Thrown Into Chaos
by tetsi
Summary: Being in close contact with So Yi Jung was not Ga Eul's preferred choice, but her perfectly fine vanilla life was thrown into a mess after an assignment meant that she had to start re-evaluating her plan (again). Added to that a rather unsettling incident, and she had chaos in the making.
1. Chapter 1

**Coffee 3?  
** Can't  
 **Don't leave me hanging  
** Amuse yourself  
 **This is what I get after all we've been through?  
** Call your fiancé  
 **She banned me to call her this week.  
** That's because you told her she looked like she had butt implants  
 **It supposed to be a fucking COMPLIMENT!  
** You need to work on your "compliments"  
 **FFS. Just come here will you! I am BORED!  
** Can't. Scheduled Interview.  
 **Call Jae Kyung and tell her she'll miss me when I die…of BOREDOM!  
** OH SHUT UP!

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It's a clear sunny afternoon. Outside the window, the sky was a vast blue sea without even a tiny speck of cloud. From afar, the hustle and bustle of the big city looked almost beautiful in the big frame. But Yi Jeong preferred to just stay indoors in his chic summer suit, sitting on his chair in cool air conditioned room of his family museum.

He felt almost content, having just signed a contract to loan a number of his family collections to an American institution for a large donation. He didn't need the money, but the museum was another story. He decided early on after being elected as the head of the board directors to separate the So museum from the family business. Meaning it had to stand on its own merit, not counting on the large financial help from their strings of resorts or trade profits.

The So museum had been there for generations, making name for the family. He had enjoyed the recognition that came with it. Maybe not so much when he was just started, being a prodigious artist at a very young age. But four years had passed since he came back from Sweden; he felt at last he had matured when he started enjoying the other aspects of his art, his responsibility as the youngest head of the museum, even the family business.

Once upon a time he would never have thought this was within his reach. But here he was now.

'Your appointment for 3 o'clock is here, Sir,' his secretary appeared.

'Won't be a minute,' he reached for his cup of coffee before realizing it was already empty. With a sigh he pushed himself from his chair. This interview better finished early so he could spend the better part of his Friday out with his best friend the mafia boss and his fiancée. They promised to show him their new living pad. Secretly he hoped he'd find a certain someone there. But he knew the possibility to that was always almost zero.

Not everything in his life was according to plan.

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 **Chu Ga Eul** was having a bad day, heck, a bad week even. She counted her misfortunes as she walked behind the rather chirpy intern showing her where to go.

First, it was Monday when her car decided to break down. She took it to the nearest garage from her house only to be told that it won't be ready until the next week. The following day her skirt caught a protruded nail on somebody's fence as she walked in a hurry from the station to the office. It was rather embarrassing too, since her 4 inch heels then caught a hole on the road as she struggled to free herself from the offending nail. Luckily it wasn't that far from the office and she managed to run quickly away from the laughing middle schoolers who witnessed the whole ordeal. But no, of course, it wasn't even the worst thing happened to her.

 **Jung So-In** , her boss, whom everyone (except her) called dragon lady behind her back, asked her to come to the chief editor office. It was late afternoon on Tuesday and everyone was getting ready to brace the rush hour.

 _'I heard you're good friends with So Yi Jeong and his group of friends', she launched straight to business._

 _'I am? I mean, I used to, I guess, a long time ago' Ga Eul almost stuttered as she watched her boss' face transformed into a smile._

 _'Good! I have an assignment for you!'_

 _'What? No!'_

She almost hit the intern then as they stopped outside the door marked as the meeting room. Quietly she followed her guide entering the minimalist but large room with long oak table at the centre and a couple of plush couches on the corner.

'You can sit down here while waiting, Miss,' she indicated on of the couches and left her alone with her thoughts.

 _'I want a feature on So Yi Jeong for our next month installment,' her boss had stated. 'And please, not the run of the mill fluffy material to fill the gossip column.' She held a finger when Ga Eul tried to speak. 'Yes, I know, he's almost a regular staple for those women's magazine, I want you to dig deeper. The man behind the mask, if you will.' She stopped a little to retrieve the folder on her desk, 'You know the So museum is going to celebrate its hundredth this year right? That's why we're making him our main feature.'_

Right. Of course. What a mess. She sighed again deeply and opened her folder. She had three days to do the research before today's interview, but really, what was it about him that's written on the paper that she didn't know already. Her reading material about the man only reminded her about the past, the longing, the pining over someone she knew deep in her heart would never return her affection. It frankly made her a little bit depressed. And she thought she had gotten it over with.

She obviously had not.

And now it was almost time to meet the devil, so to speak. She couldn't even manage to eat her lunch out of the nerves played havoc in her stomach. If only So Yi Jeong had been less than a perfect male specimen, her eyes glazed over briefly thinking about those magazine pages of him at the beach taken by some paparazzi before she shook her head in despair and laughed at her own misery.

Damn you So Yi Jeong.

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Note: my first fanfic in years!  
watching WGM has made me realize how much I really love this pairing. LOL.  
Enjoy, guys.


	2. Chapter 2

JanDi!  
JanDI!  
JANDI  
JANDI!  
 **What! I'm at JunPyo's mom house! Stop sending me messages!  
** I think I'm gonna throw up.  
 **You always say that whenever you're going to go on a date.  
** I'm not **  
** ** **Yes you are****  
Not **.**  
 **Yes.  
** AM NOT  
 **YES YOU ARE  
** Oh OK.  
I'm meeting So Yi Jeong. The one and only.  
 **WHAT!  
WHAT!  
WHAT?  
**I'm sitting in the museum's meeting room, waiting for him. If he's not here in the next five minutes I think I might have to go to the bathroom to wash this cold sweat.  
 **WHY ARE YOU THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE AND WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME BEFORE!** **  
**Stop shouting. Jeezz..  
 **YOU'RE THE ONE WHO NEVER WANT TO SEE HIM WHENEVER I INVITE YOU TO COME OVER. I'M ALLOWED TO SHOUT NOW  
** Jun Pyo's mom is so going to kill you if you kept sending me text.  
 **GA EUL!  
** Sssshhh he's coming. GTG

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She turned off her mobile phone as the door opened to reveal the man behind. Man, he's still looking so fine. The numerous pictures of the Casanova So Yi Jeong often plastered on the front of those rag magazines really couldn't hold a candle to the real person just entering the room. She took in his lean frame, perfectly coiffed hair, immaculate shirt and jacket, his long legs, his charming smile and sighed deep down inside.

Life was just too kind for the likes of him, she thought as she put a smile on her face. There was no doubt Yi Jeong had taken a good care of himself. Again she stole a glance at his sculpted build. Those muscles must come from the gym, not the long hard labor under the sun. Which explained why his skin looked healthy without any signs of crow feet at the corner of his eyes. Damn him. No wonder they always had this over abundance of confidence when they strutted into the room, no matter who was on the other side.

There's something different about him, though, she thought after a passing second. He looked calmer than she had ever seen him before. These past four years had done him good.

For his part, it took Yi Jeong a fair while to regain his composure. Sitting primly on the couch was the girl from the past. She looked beautiful with her hair hung all the way to her lower back. Her rather endearing chubby feature was gone, replaced by the sharper jaw line and more mature face. She had grown up, of that he was sure. But grew up to be this beautiful? He must be mad to let her go from his life.

It's that silence you sometimes watched in the movie, Ga Eul thought when Yi Jeong stopped in his track and stood still for some delayed seconds before he found his easy smile back and walked over quickly to greet her.

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'I still can't believe it is you.'

Oh, groan. A couple of hours had passed and they had been talking about family, friends, business, life and everything under the sun and still Yi Jeong seemed to pause here and there and said 'I still can't believe it is you.' It's annoying after the first ten times, even if they had been said with affection.

Yes, it had been her business to make sure that, after months of no show from that day he appeared at the kindergarten she was working at the time, she forever disappeared from his world as well. How long does a girl need to wait for someone to really, really notice her anyway? So she started making less and less appearance at JanDi and F4's gathering to the point of nothing at all.

It stung a little that Yi Jeong did not seem to care enough to chase her, but at the end it's probably for the best she thought bitterly. Switch your focus and all that jazz, amongst the many reasons why she chose to leave her kindergarten job.

'I heard about your plan to expand your philanthropy cause, spending time with underprivileged children to teach pottery.'  
'Yes, but Ga Eul, can we stop talking about me for a while?'  
She looked up in surprise. 'But Yi Jeong Sunbae, this IS your interview...'  
'And maybe stop calling me Sunbae as well?'  
'But…'  
'How about dinner?'

'Come, it's almost time to leave the office anyway.'

'I….' she looked down to see her skinny black pants and cream silk shirt. She looked nice, she knew that. She had to, they were about the nicest pair of pants and shirt she had ever owned. And the most expensive ones as well. She still shuddered when thinking about the price tags.

She spent a good part of two hours getting ready in the morning just to prepare for this. Her bed at home were still covered with the clothes she rejected one after the other.

Mini skirt? Too sexy.  
Long skirt? Too prudish.  
Sheer? Not professional enough.  
Shapeless sack dress? She looked like a nun.  
Baby blue? She looked like a fifteen year-old.  
Bold red? What was it? She's going to a bar?

It was exhausting. And that was even before she put on her make-up.

Red lipstick? Pink lipstick? Smoky eyes? Pink foundation? Yellow foundation? She almost experienced a total meltdown. Not to mention another touch up after lunch time before she flagged a taxi to take her to the museum.

She looked nice; with her almost nude make-up and hair slightly styled just enough to give the impression that she didn't really style her hair. Whoever said it's easy being a woman was just a stupid ignorant fool.

But having dinner with Yi Jeong usually meant going somewhere with special dress code way above her paycheck, and she's wary about letting him have his way again this time.

'Actually, I have plan for dinner already,' she surprised to hear herself spoke so confidently.  
'Really?'  
'Yes, really,' she smiled at him. 'I have to meet my chief editor later this evening.' She actually had no such plan and was going to pick up some packets of noodle and eggs from the supermarket before heading home.

'That's too bad.' He frowned a little, and man if he didn't look cute and manly at the same time, Ga Eul gritted her teeth at her own thought. What was it about this man to have such a hold on her?

'Maybe we can pick up this interview some time later next week, Sunbae?'

He stood still while looking at her intently. His fingers rubbed his chin slowly as if he was considering something in his mind. 'I see. How about coming with me tomorrow to check one of those pottery schools you mentioned before. I actually had them built in conjunction to each of our resorts. If you're interested you should really check them out. I could ask permission to your editor if you're worry about schedule clash or something.'

Ga Eul narrowed her eyes as he smiled broadly at her. Oh, he's good. He's really good at this game.

'Of course,' she managed a smile and pretended to consult her agenda even though she knew perfectly well it's empty except for her weekly grocery shopping and yoga class. 'Where shall I meet you?'  
'I'll pick you up, of course. What's your address and phone number?'

Oh God, she could almost see his wide grin despite her closing eyes in defeat.

After reluctantly giving him her address, she said goodbye and took her leave. Walking away, she could feel his stare following her out. This was so not according to plan, she lamented. Why was the world conspiring against her?

'Oh Ga Eul?' he called her just as she reached for the door.  
'Yes?' she turned around and watched him started to loosen his tie.  
'Stop calling me Sunbae. Please'

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	3. Chapter 3

**True or False? Operation Soulmate part deux is underway**.  
HA! It's more soul sucking than soulmate  
 **Details?  
** The brat is switching off her phone.  
 **Goddammit!  
Does it call for intervention?  
Stupid fiancé said they are going for a drive out of town tomorrow**.  
And Jun Pyo is useless as usual. Please tell your stupid fiancé to use his James Bond-like skills to find out about Casanova's plan  
 **He passed out already. I am thoroughly disgusted at him now.  
I think Casanova secretly fed him alcohol throughout dinner to shut him up.  
Shall I put him under the shower?  
And I'm still pretending to not know her coming and going just in case he asked, you know. Argghhh what's with the drama with those two!  
**I KNOW!

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Yi Jeong stole another glance at the girl sitting beside him. She fretted for a while at the beginning of their journey, repeatedly touching her jeans, flicking imaginary dust from her otherwise perfectly ironed shirt. A number of times she would stretch her legs before at last she sat quietly and looked outside the car window. He knew better than to drive her orange lotus, instead he chose the most inconspicuous black Audi from his collection.

He had shown up a little early from the agreed pick-up time in front of her apartment building, ready to park the car and made his way to her unit. But was sitting at the lobby area already, reading her tablet with her big messenger bag and camera backpack piled next to her chair.

'Do you do your own photograph?' he asked curiously after they seated themselves in the car and put on their seatbelts.

'Not really. I'd like to but I'm not that good. We'll have someone come to take your picture in the museum and your studio next week. But I like to have camera ready whenever I have field assignment.'

He raised his eyebrows.

'Am I a field assignment?' he watched her bemusedly and happy to see her face blush a little. She told him how she did two years of photography course when she was still working at the kindergarten. It proved to be beneficial for her line of work now.

'That reminds me,' he said, 'why did you change job? I would never picture you as a journalist. Ever.'

'Never?' she laughed a little, her whole face lit up.

'I'm more of a writer-editor, though. I don't do news reporter. It's a whole area I rather not touch. So I wouldn't consider myself a real journalist, not really,' she said after a small pause and smile at him, and he was struck again at how different she looked. Gone was the shy and quiet Chu Ga Eul he knew, instead he had this seemingly more carefree and confident girl with feisty eyes but still retained that innocence that drew him to her years and years ago. He was struck again at his foolishness to let her pass from his life. As it turned out, he never really learned from past mistake, even if the reason was vastly different.

They stopped to get coffee and petrol on the way. She excused herself to go to the rest room while he waited in the car. Yi Jeong wished she had been wearing sundress and sandals, hair loosely tied in a bun, perfect for a summer outing, not jeans and white shirt with hair pulled tight in a ponytail.

'I didn't even see you at JunPyo and janDi's wedding,' he said later as they headed toward their destination.  
'No, I suppose you didn't,'  
'You were there though?'  
'Of course I was there, Sunbae.' She smiled quietly at him before swiftly deflecting attention from her answer and asked him about his family resorts.

He wondered why his question seemed to rattle her and tried to think about that day, but came up with nothing.

'Stop calling me Sunbae,' at last he chided her and concentrated on his driving.

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She did go to JanDi and JunPyo's wedding, of course she did. She remembered worrying about whether she looked sophisticated enough, presentable enough for such event. After switching her dress choice for the seventh time, she decided that it really didn't matter what she wore, she'd never be in the same playing field with most of the guest anyway. And so she picked a chic summery pale salmon color sixties dress she found from a vintage shop and be done with it.

Jae Kyung had called her that morning to say that she was going to arrive with the rest of the F4 gang, such as the life of Song Woo Bin's girlfriend, she lamented. Ga Eul told her not to worry about it and that she'd be fine coming by herself. Which she did.

She came early and congratulated the groom and bride, especially the bride who looked calm enough from the outside even though she whispered in Ga Eul's ear how she wished she could have just eloped to Las Vegas and be done with this party. Jan Di looked lovely, though, she had thought fondly. 'You'd be OK,' she laughed at JanDi again before they took a picture together and she retreated to the guest area.

She was in the middle of a conversation with a rather handsome guest when a sudden excitement travelled the hall. As usual, there's a bit of commotion amongst the girls when Yoon Ji Hoo, Song Woo Bin and So Yi Jeong arrived. They all looked handsome in their formal attire, with Ji Hoo dressed in his usual white, while Woo Bin and Yi Jeong came in dark colors. Even with Jae Kyung in tow, the chatters from Woo Bin fan girls didn't stop.

Ga Eul noticed them from a safe distance. He looked good, she conceded, more than just good, really. Her eyes couldn't move from one person and one person only. But she had distanced herself enough from the group at that point that she didn't feel like to come up and mingle with them.

 _'That Jae Kyung girl is so lucky to have Song Woo Bin as her fiancé,' a girl with pretty blue dress gushed at her friend. Ga Eul smiled at herself. It was Woo Bin who had been lucky to have level headed Jae Kyung as his fiancé; she mused and shook her head._

 _'Rumor has it, Yi Jeong is single again now.'  
'He always is'  
'Nah, he had that little girl tagged along for a while, didn't he?'_

 _Ga Eul felt her face started to blush._

 _'He had enough common sense to get out before it got messy though. Lucky him.'  
'I heard she's the bride's friend.'  
'Ugh. What's up with them mingling with those kinds of girls?'_

 _Those kinds of girls?_

 _'I know, yikes. They'd do anything for money though…' she winked at her friend before burst into quiet laughters._

Ga Eul felt like something sharp tore her heart. She wished she had been more like JanDi and stood up for herself. High kick all those girls into oblivion if she had to. But the point was, she was not her best friend. Instead, she quietly left the venue and went home feeling absolutely wretched and distressed. Was that how the outside world saw her? A leech and a moocher? Did she have to prove herself worthy before going after someone like Yi Jung? She didn't even want to be in the same room as him.

She lied on her bed restless that night. Taking stock of her life. She decided to completely overhaul her life. And got away further from him.

The next day she put in her resignation letter at the kindergarten and called her current boss. Ga Eul had taken a creative writing course as a hobby where Jung So-In taught a class. She had been impressed with her works and asked Ga Eul if she's interested to write full time for the media. She never thought about changing her career before, but after the shitstorm she had the night before she felt like she needed to reinvent herself. She needed to get rid of her old self completely and forgot about her humiliation.

Did it work?

Maybe.

But apparently not enough to completely erase his presence in her life. Life was never fair, she sighed sadly and kept her eyes on the road.

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They drove in silence before Yi Jeong started to peel off from the traffic.

'I need to drop by a colleague's house to sign some papers first. Do you mind?'  
She told him that she was perfectly fine with it.  
'This is still a secret though Ga Eul, so not a word in the article OK?'  
'Are you doing something illegal?' her eyes widened at the thought. Yi Jeong laughed at her question.  
'Do I look like someone who doesn't obey the law?'  
'Well…'

He gave her a mock hurt look. 'No, nothing against the law. It's just a potential museum collection. He wants to donate one of his collections that had been a part of the family estate for centuries. '

'Why is it a secret then?'

'Because it's going to be a surprise addition for the museum, of course. At least once the boring paper works and legal insurance are done. It's a lot of work to secure the artifact. Moreover, words on the street are that many art dealers want the painting for their collection. And they are prepared to pay for it. They are not a happy bunch.'

'It's a warzone huh?' she let out a smile at him.

'Are you mocking me? Art world can be as cruel as anything, Ga Eul yang.' He looked pointedly at her with humor and slowed the car down as they entered an old and leafy suburb. After a few hundred meters he stopped the car outside a fairly big house with tall hedges surrounding the property.

Swiftly he cut off the engine and opened the car door. Ga Eul followed his suite and walked toward the house. The gate was open wide, showing a gravel path to the front door. They were halfway toward the house before she remembered leaving her handbag carelessly in the car.

'Umm, can I borrow your key, Sunbae? I need to get something from the car.'  
'Sure,' he handed it over. 'I'll go first. Don't take too long or I might think you're trying to run away from me.' He winked at her before continued walking toward the house. She gritted her teeth at her suddenly hammering heart. He's really not that great, Ga Eul, she muttered to herself. Stupid, stupid heart.

She was just reaching the gate when suddenly from behind a motorbike lurched to almost hit her if she had not jumped in time to avoid the collision. Her wedges however caught the strayed gravel and she felt her body slammed onto the hedges as her feet gave way.

'What the….?' She crossly watched the assailant as she desperately grappled for something to grab and failed. She fell hard on her butt and shrieked indignantly as the bike skidded on the asphalt, before the rider managed to keep the balance and rode away. How rude, she mumbled string of curse words as she lifted her body from the ground. Her shoulder where she slammed the hedges hardest felt sore. She was still busy inspecting the damage on her wedges when Yi Jung ran quickly away from the house toward her.

'Are you OK?' she took in his pale appearance when he failed to say anything at all.  
'Yeah,' he paused a little. 'This is bad, Ga Eul. Hang on; I need to call the police.'  
'What? What's the matter?' her hand rubbed the right elbow to clean up some gravels still stuck on her skin. Damn that careless bike rider. Lucky her skin seemed all right.

Yi Jeong shook his head and started to punch the number on his cell phone. He spoke with quiet and tensed voice while Ga Eul waited with increasing curiosity.

'Is your colleague OK?' she asked when he finally hang up.  
He shook his head again. 'This is really horrendous, Ga Eul.'  
'What happened?' her curiosity started to get the better of her. 'Sunbae, did anyone get hurt?' she started walking toward the house even when Yi Jung half shouting told her not to.

She strode quickly into the building but had to halt suddenly as she took in the pool of red on the floor. Her eyes followed the trail of red with heart beating erratically. It was too much, she covered her mouth when at last her eyes fell on the source of those red liquid. A man slumped on the desk, clearly dead even from afar. She couldn't see his face but his left arm hung lifeless on his side, blood dripping from his hand onto the floor.

'Oh my God,' she whispered in horror through her clenched fingers. For all the years she worked for the magazine, never had she thought of encountering such a scene. What should she do, her hands clenched tightly, what was appropriate? Was there a standard operating procedure in her office when encountering this kind of scene?

This was inexcusable, she thought, but really, she worked for the media and her boss would never forgive her if she fainted right there and then.

She took her mobile phone from her pocket and tried to take pictures before feeling a huge tide of panic attacks building inside her. Ga Eul never saw a dead body before. This was too real; she's not cut for this kind of job. It's summer and yet she shivered almost uncontrollably. From behind she felt someone turned her around, took the mobile phone from her hand, and enveloped her in a hug.

'Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God' she whispered against his chest repeatedly.

'Don't look,' he said in her ear softly. And when she couldn't stop feeling cold he tightened his embrace and ran his hand on her back over and over again, kissing her hair and whispered words of encouragement until she felt more in control of herself.

'I'm OK,' she said at last as Yi Jeong led her outside into the warmth of the sun, sat her down on the porch and waited until two police cars showed up

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Notes : shocking?

Let me know what you think!

P.S : thank you guys for all your kind words and warm welcome. Much appreciated!  
I will try to update this story weekly, hopefully there's no writer's block looming in the near future :)


	4. Chapter 4

Are you OK?  
 **I'm fine  
** You can stay with us you know  
I **know but I'll be fine. Really.  
** Is Yi Jung still with you?  
 **Yeah, he's fixing me some tea now.  
** Call me if you need anything at all OK?  
 **Yes mom.  
** I'll send JunPyo to pick you up if you call me mom again.  
 **I want to say LOL but it doesn't seem appropriate?  
But really, don't worry about me.  
**Promise me to stay safe.  
 **I will JanDi. Now hush.  
** I love you  
 **I love you too.**

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When Ga Eul was in her second year of college her parents decided to move away from Seoul. They told her that they were done with big city life and much preferred to live in a relatively quiet surrounding. And so they packed their bags and moved to her father's hometown. They had been living there ever since, opened a small business they ran from home.

Her dad, for whatever reason decided that what his hometown really needed was a reliable plumbing service and so he set up an office and recruited a few men who worked hard with him. She was quite surprised when the business actually served them well, prompting her father to persuade her to move as well. She resisted though, choosing instead to live alone by herself in her small rented apartment.

She stayed in the same apartment until she finished college and started her working life. Being a kindergarten teacher didn't really pay well, but she managed to save. With the money she made, she managed to move to a better and slightly bigger apartment. The one she'd been living in since. It was, of course, close to what you'd call a dump or a doghouse if compared to the flashy houses and apartments those F4 boys used to.

'Sugar?'  
'No thanks.'  
'How about milk?' Yi Jeong appeared with a mug in his hand in front of her. It was a birthday gift from her class back when she was still working as a teacher and it somehow made her feel a little bit better.

She shook her head quietly and received the steaming hot tea.

'I really don't think you should spend tonight alone,' he said while she sipped the scalding liquid slowly.  
'I'll be fine.'  
'That's not what that detective said.'

Earlier today, after they made their witness statement at the police office, the detective in charge told Ga Eul that she might be in a rather delicate position right now. What with her as the sole eye witness of the suspected person who ran away, and the said person actually saw her being there. Apparently it was not a desirable combination.

 _'People have been put in dangerous situation for much less before, Miss.'_

She argued that she did not really see the face of the suspected person, let alone confident enough to identify him.

' _Ah, you can't underestimate the power of your brain to gather information and store them for future reference. You might forget things when you're in shocks, but later they might all come back to you.  
'Yeah, but…'  
'You might not see the face, but you might recognize someone's posture, gait, the way they hold things with their hands. The way they move_.'

'Hmmm…' she mumbled her protest, unconvinced of his statement. Still, they told her to be extra careful until they found the perpetrator.

 _'There's no telling what he might do, miss,'_ the older detective told her. **Detective Kang-Hee** , was his name.

She shivered a little and quickly drank the dark liquid in her hand, grimacing when her lips protested in pain over the temperature. Stupid as she might be, she was not prepared to follow Yi Jeong's idea of her staying with him in his house. There needed to be some cataclysmic shit going on before she placed herself anywhere near the man.

'Look, I really doubt he's going to come after me in such a short time. For all we know, he might regard me as some random passerby who accidently passed the house and went away for good. I'm pretty sure I'd be safe tonight. As safe as, oh, I don't know, as safe as driving 30 km/hr while using a seatbelt. As safe as eating organic free range chicken eggs. As safe as having sex with condom.'  
'Excuse me?'  
'Well you get the gist.'

'Fine then, if you said so' he shrugged his shoulders. 'We'll do it your way. You can stay here.'  
Ga Eul heard herself exhale loudly. She didn't even know she was holding her breath.

'But I'll stay here tonight.'

She coughed until she's blue in the face.

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'Here, I guess you can wear this tonight,' Ga Eul brought a pair of sweat pants from her room and gave them to Yi Jeong. She gave up convincing him to just go home an hour ago. It was really no use convincing him to just go and leave her alone, she could handle things herself.

'Are those your boyfriend's?' Yi Jeong scrunched his nose in distaste.  
'Gosh, no!' she looked horrified to hear his question. 'I don't have a boyfriend.'  
He felt a little smirk coming up.  
'Not at the moment anyway,' she added with eyes narrowed. 'And even if I did, I don't keep mementos.'

'Well then,' he fought hard not to smile, 'are they your father's?'  
'I think they are Jun Pyo's.'  
'What?'  
'Don't look at me like that,' she frowned at him, aghast at his suggestion. 'Jan Di left her gym bag the last time she came here. Somehow those pants were inside.'  
'OK then,' he took the offending sweatpants from her hand and went to the bathroom to change, 'even though it pains me to wear something of that idiot, I'd comply just for you.'

This was stuff straight from Ga Eul's nightmare. The effort of the past four years she'd been dedicating her time avoiding him was destroyed in just one day. Not that it was anybody's fault. Well, except for that criminal. She shuddered when her thoughts returned to the scene she witnessed earlier today.

They spent hours in the police station giving statements to the detective in charge before allowed to go back to Seoul. Both were quiet during their drive home. At one point Yi Jung took her shaking hand and kept it in his, his thumb tracing her palm softly almost as if he was consoling her without words as he drove his car back to Seoul.

She had to admit that it helped to keep the cold feeling in the pit of her stomach at bay.

Sometimes Ga Eul just couldn't understand him at all.

#

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#

Yi Jeong settled himself on the couch even though it was too fucking small for his tall frame, but it was him who insisted on spending the night here and he had no right to complain. He wondered when was the last time a girl had flatly said no when offered to spend a night at his house. Well, there's always a first for everything, he laughed a little at himself.

He wondered not for the first time why GaEul seemed to vanish altogether from his life. It had not been a conscious decision when he kind of disappeared from her life for a while. Five years in Sweden had proven to be just what he needed in term of his career and renewing his passion for his art. He supposed he got a little carried away with it.

When he decided it was time to go back to his social life, Ga Eul had gone underground. Hiding in plain sight, it would seem, judging by the fact that she still in contact with the Jan Di and Jae Kyung. Powerful and confident females turned him on, but they could be so scary sometimes.

 **I'm spending the night at Ga Eul's  
** Wow Bro….  
 **Definitely not what you're thinking  
** Still…  
 **I need to talk to you on Monday  
** Only if you agree with the term full disclosure  
 **Yeah, definitely shut your dirty mind  
** FINE! Come to my office after lunch. I have a meeting in the morning.  
Not that you'd wake up by 11 anyway….at least  
And full disclosure!  
This is like that Jun Pyo saga all over again, huh?  
Fucking Ji Hoo needs to come back from France already  
Who's going to be the other man when you two fuck up along the way.  
Dude?  
Dude?  
HEY DUDE!

He was asleep when someone tapped his shoulder.

'What?' he said grumpily. His neck felt stiff; there was definitely a crack sound when he moved his head a little from the arm rest.  
'Yi Jeong Sunbae….'  
'Yeah?' He swore he'd burn this hard and uncomfortable couch the first chance he got and replace it with the more ergonomic La-Z boy one. Preferably the latest model with massage option.  
'I can't sleep.' Her voice was small in the dark. 'I kept thinking about what happened today.'

He shook his head and looked at her slim frame. 'Oh, Ga Eul. Darling.'

'Will you sleep with me? Just, you know,' her voice faltered a little, 'just so I can sleep knowing there's another person beside me. I'm afraid I'd get a really bad nightmare. I haven't had nightmare for years.'

'Yeah, sure,' he sat up for a while, listening to the silence before got off the couch and followed her to the bedroom.

#

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#

The bed was a decent Queen size covered with girly pink and white quilt. He noticed how Ga Eul had kept the two sides separated by placing a pillow in the middle of the bed. She never failed to amuse him.

'Umm, just so we're on the same page, Yi Jeong Sunbae..'  
'Yes?'  
'I don't just invite people to, well, to sleep with me, you know…'  
'Well I'm glad to hear that.'  
'You're making fun of me.'  
'I most certainly am not.'

She stood unmoving, her eyes fixed on him.

'I swear I won't do anything you don't want me to do, Ga Eul.'  
'Thank you.' She paused, 'I really mean it.'  
'Come on, let's get some sleep.' He turned off the light and climbed onto the bed.

The road to good night sleep was a long and windy one. Yi Jeong listened to Ga Eul's steady breath beside him, wishing he could have touched her but refrained himself to do so. There was that one time so many years ago that they almost kissed. He wished they had done it. This tension between them might have disappeared had they done so.

'Sunbae….'  
'Hmm?'  
'I still can't fall asleep.'  
'I can think of something…'  
'Sunbae!'  
'Just kidding, Ga Eul, jeez.'  
'Sorry.' Paused. 'Can I hold your hand?'

He removed the pillow between them and held his hand out. Slowly she took his offer and laced their fingers together.

'Good night,' she whispered quietly.

'Good night.'

#

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#


	5. Chapter 5

**Code RED!  
Code RED!  
Code RED!  
JANDI!  
**ARGH! Stop texting!  
 **This is IMPORTANT!  
** Why Red? Why not Blue or fucking orange? What is code red anyway? House on fire? Flood? Your stupid boyfriend forgot his key?  
 **Damn it Jun Pyo. Why are you reading JanDi's phone?  
** Why are you so noisy!  
 **Put it on silence then!  
Or better yet! Give it to your WIFE!  
**She fucking locks me out  
 **Did you insult her patients again?  
** WHY WOULD SHE CARE!  
 **D'oh! Moron.  
** It's not like you never locked Woo Bin out.  
 **Nothing more than he deserved  
** HA! Birds on the same weather fly together  
 **Sometimes I really wonder how you passed high school…..**

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#

It's been more than a year since Ga Eul woke up in the morning with a man in her bed. That was her last boyfriend. She could hardly even remember how she felt about him. It was not an unpleasant relationship in any case. If she had been honest about it, he was actually a perfect gentleman. Maybe a little too perfect, with kind eyes, wide smile and floppy hair. He even cooked for her once or twice. He liked to call her 'princess' even though she rolled her eyes every single time.

They had been dating for months (he was working at the marketing department, which made an office meeting slightly awkward for a while) when one day she decided to put a stop on the relationship. They were sitting in her living room that day, watching a new drama on TV while munching on a big bag of Doritos and salsa dip. She liked to take hers with an extra dollop of sour cream and guacamole, even though he scrunched his nose and warned her not to mix the salsa with those abomination. She had laughed at him.

Why? He had relentlessly asked her about it. Was there a third wheel in the relationship?  
She said No, of course not. She's not that kind of girl.  
Was she angry at him for something he'd done, then?  
No, it was not like that.  
Was she jealous over his past relationship?  
Well, that would be stupid, wouldn't it? So she shook her head.

So why?

But she didn't really have an answer. It just wasn't working the way she wanted to.

They never fought, he was too nice.  
They talked about everything. They talked shop at home too.  
He never even made her cry. Not even once.  
But then he also never made her heart ran a thousand beats a minute like a certain someone used to.  
At the end, it was a classic 'It's not you. It's me,' excuse she had been shilling so many times before.

The autopsy of their relationship began even before the day ended, as she sat there on her couch, eating popcorns from a giant bucket and flicking the remote to find something entertaining on TV. No such luck except for the conclusion that their whole course of relationship was too vanilla for her liking, and she always preferred her ice cream dark chocolate with loads of whipped cream, peppered with generous amount of oreos and chocolate pieces.

Sometimes she questioned herself if Yi Jeong had single handedly ruined every other male for her. It sucked, quite frankly.

'Morning.'

'Hmmmmm,' the first thing Ga Eul noticed when she cracked open her eyes was that her hand rested quite happily over hard abs, her fingers slowly tracing the smooth ridge of his stomach underneath the soft cotton shirt.

The second one was how her cheek felt warm and snug against his arm and that her nose and mouth were dangerously close to touching his chest.

The third one was how their tangled limbs felt perfectly aligned, not a single thing out of place, like puzzle pieces on the board.

The fourth one and the one she was most embarrassed about was that she heard herself yawning and sighing happily as she stretched out, nose gently nuzzled his side just moments before she remembered where she was and who was sleeping beside her.

Quick like a recoiling snake she rolled her body away; almost fell from the bed as a result.

'Uh, sorry about that,' she mumbled. 'I'll go and take a shower.'  
'Ga Eul, wait….'

She didn't pause to listen but instead got out of the bedroom and into the bathroom.

One time during college years she fell asleep in the class. She didn't have breakfast that day since she had woken up late due to an F4 (or F3, she should say) party she attended the night before. It was a fun party, too! Song Woo Bin was obnoxious on the dance floor and he made her and Jae Kyung clutching their stomach from too much laughter. Anyway, what happened then was that she came home very late that night (or should she say early in the morning?) and as a consequence she didn't hear the one-hour-before alarm rang for the blasted class (and it wasn't even a morning class!).

She almost decided not to go to school at all if she had not remembered that there was an assignment she had to hand in to her lecturer that day. Thankfully, being the dependable student that she was, she had already finished her paper a few days before. After a quick face wash she took the bus and arrived at school just before the class started.

Everything was fine and dandy until she started listening to the actual lecture. The soft hissing of the AC, the grumbling of her stomach, and the flat tone of her teacher voice lulled her into a deep sleep. The next thing she knew, she was lying flat on the floor with other students surrounding her.

That was embarrassing.

But THIS?  
THIS thing?  
This thing that just happened to her?

She took off her clothes, got into the shower stall and started running the water. She wished there had been a sink hole opened up in front of her that she could just jump into. With head leaned forward onto the wall she let the hot water massaged her tired scalp and muscles.

God, that was completely, utterly mortifying.

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#

Ga Eul's apartment was not big and roomy by any stretch of imagination. The living room was an open plan that was also served as a dining area that linked straight to the kitchen. Apart from the four seater dining table, she didn't keep much furniture. Except for the necessary set of couch, an entertainment set on which she placed the medium sized TV in the corner of the room, and a simple coffee table at the center to help making the room feel more spacious than it really was.

On the wall there were several framed posters hung as decorations. Almost all of them were abstracts except for one nature picture in black and white.

Yi Jeong liked how bare and minimalist she kept the general look of her apartment. Somehow he always pictured her as a lace and frilly kind of girl. Someone who collected Home and Garden magazines, and filled her house with her knitting projects. Not that he would object to that, but he liked what he deemed as surprise.

The only girly room she kept was her bedroom. It was the warmest place in her apartment with windows facing to the east, making oversleep hard when you forget to draw the curtain. A frilly white curtain, in her case. It ashamed him to admit, but he actually kind of like the cozy feel of it, all the way to her white and pink quilt.

He decided to make himself useful and went to the kitchen. A quick search led him to find the container where she kept her supply of tea. He put water in the jug and started to boil while his rummaging the freezer resulted in half a loaf of white bread.

What girl didn't even have eggs in her fridge, he mused, as his goal for an omelet breakfast rudely foiled.

Ga Eul didn't take too long time in the bathroom. Twenty minutes after she hurriedly left the bed, she came out with denim shorts and an oversize floral shirt from the bedroom and into the kitchen. Two cups of tea and a plate of toast were already waiting for her.

Yi Jeong was busy looking at a framed photo of her with Jan Di and Jae Kyung. It was a picture they took almost two years ago, when they decided to have a girls' weekend together and went to Busan for two days. They were rolling on the sand and killed themselves laughing in the picture. She loved that moment.

She started helping herself with toast and strawberry jam, when Yi Jeong came and sit in front of her across the table.

'I think you should come and spend at least a few days with me until we are sure that he's not going to be a danger for you.'

Ga Eul never thought her apartment of being too small before, but Yi Jeong's tall frame and long limbs seemed to fill every space she laid her eyes on. It was silly and of course, totally untrue, but she seemed to see him everywhere.

'I don't think so,' She ran her fingers through her damp hair and sipped her tea. Her hair was getting too long, she thought. It was time to make an appointment with her hair dresser.

'Why is that?'  
'Tomorrow is Monday.'  
'Yeah?'  
'Unlike some people, I have to go to the office every day.'  
He shrugged unconcerned, 'take a holiday.'  
She gave him a stink eye.  
'Okay, you can still go to the office from my house.'  
'That's not practical. All my stuff is here.'  
'I'll have them packed and send there.'  
'No thanks.'  
Yi Jeong rolled his eyes.

'Tell me honestly, Ga Eul,' he pressed his elbow on the dining table, his body bent forward and looked at her intently. 'Are you afraid of spending time with me?'

'What? No,' she denied vehemently but avoided looking at his eyes; instead she picked the bread crumbs from her plate and put them into her mouth. 'Of course not,' she added lamely.

'You're lying.'  
'I'm not lying.'  
'Yes you are.'  
'I am NOT!'  
'Then prove it.'  
'FINE! I WILL!'

Yi Jeong leant back on his chair and smiled widely at her. Without words he took a big bite of his toast and ate it slowly, his eyes never stopped looking at her.

Oh shit.  
Did she just fall into his trap?  
Did she?

Damn him to the moon and back! She let out a loud groan and put her head on the table.

#

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#


	6. Chapter 6

**Kill me now  
** I have befriended you for twenty odd years. It's hard for me to kill you now. Find someone else.  
 **I hate you and you'll be sorry to see me go  
** You'll learn to love me again. In time.  
 **I'm going to stay with beefcake for a week or two  
** FUCKING WHAT!  
 **I thought so  
** But WHY?  
 **He's acting like a big badass older brother thingy at the moment.  
Blablabla shouldn't stay alone.  
Blablabla safe with me.  
It's just easier to say whatever to shut him up  
**Do not fall for that brotherly thingy trap!  
 **He's not interested in me JanDi….. He never does…  
** Oh Ga Eul, darling, that is not true.  
Just stay with us.  
 **And risking Jun Pyo's polka dot underwear on my face again?  
** It's YEARS AGO and just that one time..…  
 **Yeah. No. Until he learns not to walk out of the bathroom naked when there's a GUEST in your apartment, I'm staying away from there.  
** We've moved to a HOUSE now, Ga Eul, you know that.  
 **Doh. Obviously. But don't worry Jan Di, I'll be FINEEEE. I'm just, you know, letting you know before you freak the hell out on me..  
** Am not some sort of a rabid woman.  
 **That's what she said.  
** Piss off.

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#

On Monday morning, the office hallway was buzzed with excitement. Yi Jung had somehow insisted on dropping her off personally, citing that her office was located conveniently on the way to the museum from his house anyway. Which, of course, was a blatant lie. If anything, he took a detour just so he could say, 'See, here's your office, and the museum is just over there.' Over there being the other side of town.

He made a great show of opening the car door when they were going to leave the house. But she beat him down to it when they arrived at the office. It's enough for her office mates to get into fits of frenzy about the fact that the famous Casanova had not only dropped her to work but also walked her all the way to the door of the main lobby.

'Seriously, Yi Jeong Sunbae,' she was almost hissing like an angry cat. 'You are being ridiculous.'  
'What did I do?' he asked all innocently.  
'I can perfectly walk by myself from the car park to the office.'  
'I know that…'  
'And I'm pretty sure there is not going to be a disaster between your car and my office. Which is only, like, fifty meters apart.'  
'Yeah, I know that as well.'  
'You don't really have to guard me like a bodyguard.'  
'I know that too well.'  
'So why are you following me here.'  
'Because I want to?'  
'Errr...'  
'Have you taken into consideration that I might just do things because I like doing it, Ga Eul?'  
'Umm...'

He smiled and handed her a black plastic folder where she kept her half finished draft of an article she was writing for next month edition.  
'You left this in the car.'  
He winked and laughed at her flabbergasted expression.

By then, they had already reached the automatic door to the main lobby and he bid her goodbye. But not before throwing a mock salute at her and a quick smile at some people who were just arriving at the building as well.

They stole a curious glance at her and Yi Jeong (no doubt thinking how in the world the mostly-quiet-and-kept-to-herself editor managed to have someone like the obscenely rich and famous Casanova carrying her stuff) before gaping openly at his flashy ride. Damn So Yi Jeong for choosing his black Porche to drive today. She was positive he did all that only to further infuriate her.

She counted to five and took a long deep sigh, reminding herself again and again that this was just a temporary arrangement, before slowly dragged her feet inside. Since when did her life become this complicated?

Ga Eul walked to her office cubicle rather unenthusiastic and dropped her bag on the floor before deposited herself on the chair and slumped her body rather ungracefully on her desk.

'Rough night?'  
She raised her head to see her boss standing by her computer.  
'Quite.' She straightened her posture and turned on her desk top.  
'You can fill me in on that. Come on, let's grab a coffee. You need a cheer up.'

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#

Song Woo Bin, second in command for SONG Constructions, future head of his family underground organization, and all around nice guy, was busy studying the large blue print of the newly design football stadium on the table when Yi Jeong burst into the meeting room.

'Well, hello?' he raised his hand in salute at his friend. 'I thought we agreed on after lunch?'  
'Yeah, I have a few other things to sort out this afternoon, though. Do you mind?'  
Woo Bin glanced at the silver Rolex on his wrist.  
'No that's fine. Meeting's not until 10 or something.'  
He signaled his friend to follow him to his office suite and closed the door after.

'Did you watch the football last night?' Woo Bin said as he stopped by his desk for a while and checked his calendar for the day. 'Fucking Arsenal got toasted, I can't even…. You know how much I lost on the bet?'  
'Nothing more than your key to the shittiest place in the city, I hope.' Yi jeong looked around. The office had changed a bit since the last time he dropped by, maybe a little more than a year ago.  
'Hey! That is the most expensive wine cellars in Seoul.  
'Exactly.'  
Woo Bin scowled at him.  
'Fuck you, man. Jae Kyung is batshit crazy this morning. Presumably from Ga Eul staying over at your house.'  
'Nothing happened between us. How many times do I have to say it? Jeez…' he furrowed his brow together. 'Wait. What do they say to each other?'

'Fuck if I know,' Woo Bin sniggered as his friend scowled at him. 'So what happened' the future mafia boss (although he did not see himself that way) seated himself comfortably on the couch and reached for the phone. 'You want coffee?'  
'Espresso, please.'  
Woo Bin spoke to his secretary to bring along some cakes along with the coffee. He shrugged his shoulders when Yi Jeong raised his eyebrows.

'Here's a free advice, Bro. Don't start living with a woman. It's totally fucking dangerous. First they invade your wardrobe. You know, my large and spacious wardrobe. It's only tooth brush and a set of clothes for the morning after at first, pajamas and matching bathrobes follow after. Then, there were bags and make up and shoes and sportswear. Before you know it, you get only a quarter of the space. Then they invade your kitchen. Did you ever see the state of my kitchen before? Yeah, exactly. Nothing there. Now I even have bread maker and cheese grater. Have you seen my new set of measuring cups and spoon? They are amazing. The cake? That comes after. I can't go without morning tea and treats now. Fuck my life, man. Now I even have to start exercising. God!'

He stopped as the secretary brought inside one cup of espresso for Yi Jeong, a cappuccino for Woo Bin, and a plate of carrot cake slices.

'Uh, this is good.' Woo Bin took a slice out of the tray and start munching. 'Anyway, yes, so what happened?'

Yi Jeong watched his friend in amusement for a while before he took his cup and had a sip.

He explained briefly what happened over weekend while Woo Bin sat there listening.

'So that's why Ga Eul is staying with you now? That's a bit excessive, don't you think?'  
'Yeah, well, the thing is, I can't shake the feeling that this is not just something happened in random, you know.'  
'What do you mean?'

'About a year ago, another colleague mentioned about donating one of his collection of art to the museum. We're talking about artifact from 17th century here, so it worth quite a lot. We spoke a few times but it didn't fell through. Mostly because he suddenly ceased all contacts and I didn't want to pressure him just in case he wanted to donate another piece of his collection to the museum. Anyway, last I heard it was sold in an underhand deal to an unnamed collector.

Then a few months ago something similar happened. The difference was that the art did not change ownership, but the deal was off. I did not push either. Sometimes it's personal, you know, when people decided to part with their art. Anyway, last month Mr. Lee, my colleague who died, mentioned that there's been someone pressuring him not to release the painting to the museum. He didn't say who it was but it sounded a bit shady.

On Saturday I was suppose to sign a few papers at his house. I was expecting a full set of papers waiting for me already. But the police did not find anything at all at his desk, which was rather suspicious. I mean, I got a call from his lawyer a few days ago saying everything was ready for the signing.

This is just a hunch, but do you think someone especially targeting me here? And if it's true, then why?' I can't find a valid reason. I just don't think I've done something bad enough to warrant a revenge or something.'

Woo Bin rubbed his chin thoughtfully.  
'It does seem highly suspicious,' he nodded slowly. 'You don't have any suspect at all?'  
'No. and I have more nagging feeling here with the passing of Mr. Lee. I believe the killer knew I was coming that day and set it up so it would seem I'd be in the guilty party. However, he didn't count on Ga Eul coming with me. Which is lucky and at the same time unfortunate. Lucky because she basically provided me with alibi and unfortunate because now she has become a witness and someone the killer knows about.'

'You think Ga Eul is in danger?'  
'You don't think it's the case?'  
'I don't know…'  
'Think about it, man, she's with me on a Saturday morning drive. Prim and proper, she doesn't look like someone who frequents clubs on Friday nights. She calls me Sunbae all the freaking time, which makes me raging quietly inside, come to think of it….. She just doesn't fit the stereotypical women I usually get involved with. She must be someone close to me.'

'Yeah, well, you usually hook up on Monday and dump them by Wednesday. And they call you honeycakes or something.'  
'Fuck off.'

Woo Bin took a cigarette pack from his pocket and lighted one.  
'Does ga Eul knows about any of this?'  
Yi Jeong sighed and shook his head. 'Fuck no. She already hates me. I'm rather reluctant to reveal another part of me that will make her wary even more.'  
'You should, though.'  
Yi jeong made a distressed sound.  
'Yeah, I know. Maybe in a couple of days. Plus she's writing an article about me. This is all off the record stuff.'  
'Get her a bit of credit. She knows better than that, you know that.'  
'Yeah….' He moved restlessly in his chair.

Woo Bin took a puff of his cigarette. The no smoking signs everywhere inside the building apparently did not apply to him. Yi Jeong stored the information for future ribbing.

'Assuming this is someone who is going his way to get you, what's your plan from here ahead?'  
'That's just it, isn't it? I don't have a plan other than to keep Ga Eul safe. I don't care about the artwork that much, but I do care about someone had been killed just because this person's out for revenge or something.'  
'And where do I come in this?'  
'Find him. Please.'  
'Did you tell the police everything you told me?'  
'Well, not everything. I don't really want to sound like a lunatic with over inflated ego…'  
'Not more than you already are?'  
'Pppssshhh, you're talking about Jun Pyo.'  
'Yeah, well, fair enough, I guess.'

Yi Jeong finished his espresso.  
'So? What do you think?'  
'I will tell my guys to find out the words on the street. Don't worry about it.'  
'Yeah I just want to make sure nothing bad is going to happen to Ga Eul now that she's linked to me.'  
'About that…' Woo Bin smiled and raised his eyebrows suggestively 'Are you going to tell me anything juicy? I mean your story is all exciting and stuff but come on man, where is the saucy stuff? What's up with you and Ga Eul?'

Yi Jeong scowled at his friend.  
'There is literary nothing to talk about.'  
'You didn't sleep with her?'  
'Well…'  
'AH-HA!'  
'Shut up. It's not like that.'  
'If you say so,' Woo Bin laughed at his expression. 'Tell me, what are you going to do?'  
'What do you mean?'  
'Because if you're going to fuck up again, the girls are going to roast you alive. You know that, right?'  
'I know, I know.' He sighed deeply, 'I don't know, man, she's pretty hard to read.'

Woo Bin raised his eyebrows.

'Tell me I'm hearing things…'  
'Oh shut up. I like her, OK?'  
'Shall I tell Jae Kyung about this?'  
'No. Don't tell her anything. God, what is wrong with you.'  
'She might help you mend things up with her.'  
'Well I don't want any help.' Yi Jeong frowned and stood up. 'I better get going. Say hi to the beautiful monkey.'  
'Hey, watch out there.'  
'I said beautiful.'  
'Get out!'

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#


	7. Chapter 7

**Important question.  
Do you think vampires suck only the blood of people he/she's interested in?  
Or they just suck whatever.  
I mean I wouldn't put my mouth anywhere near people I despise. Right?  
**Is that a tricky question?  
 **Why would you think it's a tricky question…  
** Because it _IS_ weird!  
Have you had dinner?  
 **Just curious, you know. I mean if those Dracula movies we watched together with Jan Di last Halloween ever taught us about one thing, it was that the victims were almost always fell in love (lust?) with the vampires, and vice versa.  
Just look at their faces! When the vampire sucks the blood of the victim, they look like they are having orgasm or something. It's basically having sex, right? I mean, do vampires turn down victims they don't like? Do they have a special hang out place? Do they go on tinder for casual sucking one night stand?  
**Hang on a minute.  
Is this somehow related to your relationship with Yi Jeong?  
 **Almighty God! Whatever makes you say that!  
** I'm starting to draw parallels here  
 **There is no parallel! Not even when you squint your eyes so hard they almost disappear.  
You're projecting too much.  
**Am I?  
What are you doing anyway?  
 **I'm just killing time, nothing to read….  
** Bullshit. Yi Jeong has an enormous library at his house. Do you even step out of your little hole?  
 **This room is enormous, thank you very much. I got lost just walking from the door to the closet.  
** Then the house is a freaking gigantic mansion! Step out of your room before Yi Jeong think you're some sort of a weird person. It's been what, almost a week and have you stepped outside the perimeter of your bedroom, dining room and water cooler?  
 **How do you know these things? Are you spying on me?  
** HA! You don't think beefcake talk to his best friend?  
 **His best friend obviously can't shut his mouth.  
** Yeah, well, I was wearing only bra and lace underwear when I asked.  
 **LALALALALALA I don't wanna hear…. LALALALALALALALA**

#

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#

It was frustrating.

Yi Jeong almost wished he had never made a suggestion for Ga Eul to stay at his house. Not because he didn't like her being there, of course not, but the fact that his house had just about twenty rooms too many for the two of them, that it was too easy for Ga Eul to totally avoid him the whole time she was staying. Five days so far on his note.

The good thing about Ga Eul cramped one bedroom apartment was that there really was no space to hide. The door-less bedroom gave him full view of whatever Ga Eul was doing inside from the strategic corner of the couch in the living room. Not that he tried to look for anything untoward while he was staying there.

He would love for them to go back there if only there's no added fact that his house had a full on security system which linked to the best security company in the country. Not to mention the fact that it was easier for him to conduct constant communication with Woo Bin and the men from his house. Speaking of which, Woo Bin had strangely not been able to provide any information so far. It made him a bit unsettled.

The first night Ga Eul stayed at his house, she retired to her room shortly after early dinner. She claimed a headache, which he couldn't call her out for, what with moving in that day and the aftershock still lingered. The second and third night she had come home late from work, saying that she had a late afternoon meeting with her boss after a full day of editorial frenzy. She didn't even have dinner at home those couple of nights.

Yesterday he had a late meeting in the office and found Ga Eul had retired early when he arrived home. It started chaffing at his pride. He's not a bad person, why did she have to avoid him?

Today he had shown up at her office just before five-thirty. He left his tie and jacket in the car, wearing only white dress shirt with rolled up sleeves. Hushed silence came almost immediately as he walked the hall to her cubicle. Appreciative glances were thrown from every corner as he stopped in front of Ga Eul's desk, casting shadow on her keyboard.

She was busy tidying up her desk when he arrived and missed the excitement around her.

'Hello?' she at last looked up from her handbag on the floor, almost fainted from the sight of him looming over her desk. He smiled to himself when she gave him a once over and saw the start of a blush forming on her cheek.

'Ready to go?' he played with the car key in his hand.  
'Ummm where?'  
'Home, of course. This is, what, five thirty?' He looked at the digital clock on the wall just above the door to the chief editor office. 'Looks like you're ready to go anyway.'

She looked helplessly at the state of her desk, clearly feeling sorry for herself. 'I guess,' she said at last after seconds of silence.  
'Come,' he picked up her laptop bag and waited for her to finish packing her handbag.  
A few while later they walked together to the car park

They drove home mostly in silence. A few chit chat here and there, but she told Yi Jung nothing interesting happened today at the office. The 'art scandal' made big news on Monday paper edition, mostly because the famous So Yi Jeong was involved. She had talked to the news reporter from the sister paper of the magazine, basically parting everything she had said to the police before. Her boss, thankfully, did not scold her for behaving less of a reporter and more of a media noob.

'That is not your job description anyway,' was her response to her confession. To which Ga Eul felt immensely grateful.  
She went straight to her room once they arrived safely home.  
'Dinner at seven thirty,' he reminded her.  
'Yes, Sunbae,' she replied before closing her bedroom door.

Yi Jeong sighed and rubbed his neck warily. It was not going to be easy, was it?

#

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#

Ga Eul took her time in the shower.  
She needed time to think, and sitting alone texting Jae Kyung in the safety of her bedroom proved to be unhelpful so far.

It's nerve racking, staying in the same house as So Yi Jeong.  
First of all, the fact that So Yi Jeong was one of the best looking men she had ever known. It was hard not to stare at his face whenever they were together. The best thing she could do was to try to appear calm and collected in front of him. It was hard enough to pretend when she only had to meet him in a short period of time, let alone staying 24/7 with him.

Second of all, her gigantic crush she used to have seemed to have returned in full force. It was just no use pretending that she was over him. He had made sure those repressed feeling came back when he held her hand that night he stayed at her house. Why did he have to be so gentle with her? She liked to think of him as a cold hearted playboy no one should ever try to get close to. It was better for her thinking of him like that. It helped eased the pain. But this Yi Jeong? This one, she had no power to ward herself off him.

She tried to recall that embarrassment she felt years ago, listening to those girls talking about 'that little poor girl who tried to tag along her friend into the midst of F4'. But even then it didn't work. She realized how childish she had been that day. It really wasn't Yi Jeong's fault for people to think like that. If anyone said the same thing now, she could have armed herself with some witty come back. Her lack of self confidence and a large dose of self pity that day made that insult felt terribly personal. At least that gave her a start of a new career.

'Wake up Ga Eul,' she whispered quietly to herself and closed her eyes; let the hot water massaging her face. She had done washing her hair about ten minutes ago. And even if she felt a little guilty wasting all those water, being in the shower calmed her down. After seconds passed, however, she turned off the tap and stepped out of the stall. She needed to get ready for dinner.

Another thing on the list of worry being in the same house with So Yi Jung was the fact of how well it seemed he always put himself together. He never looked bad, not a hair out of place. It definitely made her feel like she had to put her best as well. It was exhausting.

She liked to just wear ratty t-shirts and old shorts or yoga pants at home when she was alone. Here, she felt like she had to wear cocktail dress all the time. It was silly, but she just couldn't help it. With a sigh she opened her suitcase and chose a loose white peasant top with pale pink mini cotton skirt. She looked presentable, at least, with her long damp hair hung loose on her back.

It's time for dinner, but she felt more like attending court session.

#

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#

The butler had prepared a simple dinner of grilled snapper with sweet and spicy sauce over pureed sweet potatoes. It was presented with accompanying salad of selection of Asian greens and cherry tomatoes. They looked great, she found herself quite hungry after looking at the food.

He served her quietly, smiled only when she thanked him for the food.

Yi Jeong watched her intently, thinking about how beautiful she looked with hair still damp from the shower. Her white peasant top only highlighted her milky white skin and sexy collarbones, while her mini skirt showed off her long legs. It made good viewing but not really great for his sudden thirst. He swallowed a rather dry breath, his pants suddenly felt a bit tight. This was not going so well for him. He shifted in his seat.

'Wine?' he asked.  
'Yes, please.'  
He poured her a glass of Pinot. 'Cheers.'  
'Cheers,' she took a sip and almost died from the gorgeous taste. 'This is really good.'  
'Well I certainly hope so. Ji Hoo sent it from France just last month.'  
'Ah,' she nodded slowly.

Of course, how very one percent of them to send each other's wine from other countries. She'd bet it would at least cost her half a week salary a bottle.

They made short work on the dinner. She declined when offered dessert, saying she needed to go on a diet. To which Yi Jeong protested of no such thing.

'You are already perfect!' he exclaimed, and that made her face warm a bit. But he didn't push her. Instead he also declined dessert but invited her to accompany him for some more wine in the living room.

'I'm not sure,' she started to worry, 'tomorrow's still Friday.'  
'Oh come on, I promise no more than three bottles each.'  
She frowned at him, but he just laughed at her expression.  
'Please?' he said.

And so she trailed behind him to find a large and comfortable looking couch in front of a large TV set.

'Anything you want to watch?'  
She shook her head.  
'Do you live by yourself, Sunbae?' She asked him when they settled comfortably on their seat.

'Yeah,' he refilled their glasses before answering. 'My parents decided to retire to the country about three years ago. I invited my brother to move back in, but he chose to live in Australia with Eun Jae. They haven't been back in the country since the last time they visited, about a couple of years ago, I think.'

'Ah,' she didn't know that. 'It must be lonely. This is such a big house.'

She looked around at the big living room with the high ceiling which only accentuated the vast size of the house. Her entire apartment could fit in the living room alone and then some. To think that Yi Jeong only lived here in this gigantic mansion by himself, just with the set of helps saddened her.

'Yeah, well…' he gulped his wine rather quickly. 'Enough about family. How about you, Ga Eul?'

'Me? I…. I don't know, nothing interesting really. I've been living by myself since Dad decided to move back to his hometown.' She paused. 'Got bored working at the kindergarten and decided to try a new path. And here I am.' The wine in her glass seemed to be awfully diminishing quite fast. But it was such a gorgeous wine.

'Boyfriends?'  
'I told you I don't have any boyfriend at the moment.'  
'Past boyfriends?'  
She snorted. 'Not worth mentioning.'  
Another refill.

Yi Jeong told her about his recent holiday back to the New Caledonia with Woo Bin and Jae Kyung ('Can you believe it? I'm their tag along! Lucky they didn't kick me out of the island').

'Do you remember that boat ride?' his gorgeous dimples showing.  
'Which boat ride?' she lied. As if that scene was not permanently etched on her mind.  
'When you told me about soulmate.'  
Her cheek all of the sudden felt like fire. She tried to cool it down with another big gulp from her glass.  
'I was very young and didn't know any better,' she said primly, ready for his teasing.  
'You still remind me of her.'  
'I remind you of….myself?'  
'Yes. Still as pretty, innocent, a little bit shy…. Although a lot more confident and maybe not as talkative.' He smiled at her obvious discomfort.

'You're still the same.' She said. Boldly.  
Maybe the wine finally got into her brain.  
'Still as handsome and smooth as you used to.'

Yi Jeong looked at her with humor in his eyes. 'Is that so?'

'Oh yes, Sunbae.' Ga Eul would prefer to keep her mouth shut, but those glasses of wine had loosened her tongue. She shrugged that nagging voice and continued. 'Oh you should hear what my colleagues talk about you that first day you dropped me at the office.'  
'What about it?'  
'Ooooh that So Yi Jeong is so sexy, Ga Eul you minx, is he as good as they say he is?' she tried to mimic the most annoying colleague and cringed. 'Ugh.'

Yi Jeong laughed, looking at her expression.  
'And what did you say?'  
'Oh, nothing,' Ga Eu finished her drink and reached for another refill. Yi Jeong must have opened yet another bottle because it looked as full as ever. That, or So Yi Jeong was a secret magician.  
'Really? Nothing at all?'

She contemplated his question.

'Not a thing, Sunbae. Talking about you only opened a whole can of worms.'  
'About me?'  
She smiled sadly.  
'Not about you.' She paused. 'About me.' Another pause and another gulp of wine. 'Your not showing up weeks and months after that day in the kindergarten felt so much more heartbreaking than your good bye before going to Sweden. It hurts.'  
'Oh Ga Eul, honey,' Yi Jeong moved next to her. 'Are you feeling OK?'

She waved him off.

'Did you know I still memorize how you looked like at Jan Di and Jun Pyo's wedding? I was there, and then you guys arrived. And you were so handsome in your grey shirt and black suit. Everyone said so. All the girls in the wedding hall said so. I wanted to say hi, you know. But…' she shrugged and smiled at him sadly. 'It's all your fault, Yi Jeong Sunbae. You ruined everyone else for me.'

'Ga Eul, honey, I think you have enough drink?'

She shook her head.  
'Don't mind me Yi Jeong Sunbae. I'll forget about this tomorrow.'  
'But…'  
'Uhuh. Jan Di said I'm a bad drunk. I'm terrible at parties.'  
'Ga Eul,' he tried to grab her hand but she shook her head at him.  
'I used to really love you, Sunbae. Do you know that? I'm glad those days were over.' She looked at him with that big wide eyes and he couldn't help himself.

'Oh honey,' he took the wine glass from her hand and put it down on the table. With one hand he touched her face, feeling the warmth of her soft skin. 'Don't cry,' he whispered.

'I'm not crying,' she whispered back. Her face was only inches from him. 'I'm done crying,' she said before she brought her lips crashing onto his.

#

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#

Yi Jeong couldn't remember the last time he felt his heart soar this high then stopped for a precious while.

He sat on the couch, his hand still cradled Ga Eul's cheek as she planted her lips on his. Tentative at first, planting the softest of touch before she opened her mouth slowly, sucking on his upper lip and then moved to the lower one. He teetered on edge, wondering if he should take her to the bedroom and let her sleep when she moved from where she was sitting and sat on his lap instead.

'You ruined everything, Yi Jung Sunbae,' she whispered to him against his lips, 'I really hated you.' her miniskirt rode up her thigh; her slender arms moved past his shoulders and snaked around his neck. She looked beautiful and feverish, with her head tilted and eyes half closed. Yi Jeong swallowed his breath as her fingers lightly tread on his head, playing with his hair. 'I hate you,' she whispered softly, soft pecks on the edge of his mouth, and then she kissed him passionately, tip of tongue licking his teeth.

'Ga Eul,' his voice almost unheard, his hands on her bare knees. He tried to be an upstanding gentleman and think of England but soon joined her.

They kissed slowly, softly, then deeply. They teased, tasted, and claimed.

He felt her melted into him, her breast pressing on his chest, her weight a welcomed addition on his lap. She shifted her body from time to time, and each time he grimaced as he felt his body quickly responded to the delicious friction.

He tried to keep his hands off her, but it was a losing battle, for he found them soon savoring the curve of her waist, the softness of her skin, the firmness of her legs. He lost his focus entirely when she sucked his tongue and released a soft moan.

'Oh God, Ga Eul, we have to stop, honey,' he said hoarsely when they surfaced for breath, trying to hold on to the last sliver of his willpower. 'I don't know if I can….'

She covered his mouth with her palm, her fingers then slowly tracing his lips, warm on his skin. He wanted to capture them so badly with his mouth and suck on them, one by one.

'I'm so very sleepy,' she whispered, her eyes heavy.

'Come on, honey, let's get you to your room,' He tried to move from under her but she shook her head and rested her cheek on his shoulder. Seconds later he felt her steady breath on his neck, her long hair a silky curtain on her back.

He closed his eyes and rested his head on back of the couch, trying to decompress and catch his breath. His whole body felt so tight and strung out, like a bow ready to strike. Another kiss, another touch from Ga Eul and he would have exploded.

When did the last time he felt so aroused and frustrated at the same time? He sighed loudly.

This was going to be a very long night.

#

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A/N : a shout out to jayjazek, because I can't reply to you. Thank you for the review! I love reading all theories. It's interesting to read people's take on my story, I mean, I'm not sure if I thought that far ahead myself, HA!  
please keep sending your thoughts, I love it!


	8. Chapter 8

Hey I've been calling you. No answer.  
Don't forget dinner tonight at my place  
Can you get those mini cupcakes from the bakery next to your office?  
Double chocolate chips please…Strawberry cream.  
And red velvet. Lots of.  
Ugh, don't forget the blueberry ones  
Hellooooo  
Hellllooooo?  
And sorry but JanDi said she and JunPyo can't make it.  
Anyway. Call me. Skype me. Text me. Whatsapp me.  
Your whatsapp said last seen yesterday. WHERE ARE YOU!

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#

Ga Eul woke up with something like a gigantic elephant sitting (she believed shitting was befitting too) on her head. She cracked open her eyes and instantly regretted it since it only worsened the pounding on her brain.

'Oh God,' she groaned. She must have had an unholy amount of alcohol last night.

'What's the time,' she croaked and blindly searched for her alarm clock. She must have slept like a dead last night because she didn't hear a thing this morning, or the damned clock decided to bail on her.

She stretched her tired muscle and felt a merciful creak on her neck. Whatever the time was, it's definitely not the time she should have woken up at. Her room was brightly awash with natural light from the large window facing indoor garden. 'Oh shit shit shit,' she whisper-cursed her missing but obviously dead clock. She sat herself up, waited until her body cooperated with her enough to make gentle movement before slipping out of the white blanket covering her.

With much force she dragged herself out of the bed (funny, because she couldn't remember getting into the bed in the first place). Her pounding head, though, made her sit back down and closed her eyes. She rubbed her eyes tiredly, thinking back of the night before. Just how many glasses of wine she had last night? Friday was usually lax at her office but her boss always made sure everyone got everything done by the end of the day.

Damn So Yi Jeong for giving her those wine (but oh so gorgeous wine), she would never listen to him ever again. Giving more effort, she opened her eyes again. On her peripheral vision she spotted a large piece of paper on the bed side table. She hesitated and then reached over and picked it up.

 _'I have morning meeting at the museum, sorry for leaving you here by yourself._  
 _Take this white pill with water before breakfast, then the yellow one after._  
 _White one for hangover, yellow one is vitamin._  
 _Please have breakfast before you leave._  
 _Butler Kim will prepare you anything you ask._  
 _And you're free to use the driver._  
 _I'll see you this afternoon._

 _Yi Jeong._

 _P.S. dinner at Woo Bin and Jae Kyung tonight. I'll pick you up from the office._  
 _P.P.S. we need to talk.'_

She stared at the paper and read it over again. He said we need to talk. Oh God, did she do anything embarrassing? She hoped against hope that the worst thing she did last night was fell asleep during some harmless conversation (please let it be harmless conversation). Or drooling, that's OK too. Even dancing, she could take that one as well. Oh no, what did she do?

Ga Eul decided to forgo going to the office altogether. By the time she felt human enough to leave the house, and that included a long session in the shower stall, a bowl of chicken porridge, two full steaming mugs of tea, and those two pills Yi Jeong left her on the bed side table, the clock short and long hands had pointed to number twelve and eleven respectively.

She called her boss, claiming a gigantic headache (which really did not veer too far from the truth) and asked for a day off.  
'That's fine,' her boss said, 'But can you talk to Reporter Lee? He called me this morning since he couldn't get through you.'

Reporter Lee Sung Ki was the crime news reporter who reported the art murder case on the paper. She wondered why he needed to talk to her.  
'Sure, I will call him straight away,' she said before ending their conversation.

As it turned out, Reporter Lee was just leaving the police office and on his way to lunch. He asked Ga Eul to join him and talk about the case.  
Sure,' she said. Still bewildered of what she could have contributed to the case.

Thirty minutes later she was sitting in a small cafe just outside the police station. She had asked the driver to drop her about a hundred meters from the café. If there's one thing she didn't want anyone to make assumption of, it's that she had any relationship whatsoever with So Yi Jeong. Getting around Seoul in Yi Jeong's car certainly would make some people think certain way of her.

Reporter Lee told him about the latest development of the case. Which apparently, no development at all. 'That's disappointing,' he said. She nodded in agreement.

'But words on the street is, someone is out for So Yi Jeong.' He gauged Ga Eul's expression carefully. 'Do you know anything about this?'

'Me?' she flabbergasted. 'I swear, this is the first time I heard such theory.'  
'But you're staying with him, though,' he said matter of fact.  
She massaged her forehead tiredly. Did everyone in the office know this piece of information now?  
'Yes, but I'm not familiar with his business deal at all. What is this all about anyway? I thought it was just a random coincident?'  
'Ah, but that's what we want to know, Ga Eul.' He looked at her intently. 'Do your really not know anything?'  
'I'm not lying to you, Lee Sunbae, if that's what you're asking.'

They both sighed and drank their coffee.

'So how did you get to know him in the first place?' Reporter Lee asked her. 'Don't worry, this is just me asking. Off the record, you know.'  
She smiled at him. 'We were friends, a long time ago,' she said. 'Nothing mysterious really. No, I'm not his girlfriend, nor am I his fan girl. You've known me long enough, Lee Sunbae.'  
'That's true,' he scrunched his face at her. 'Well that's disappointing too.'  
She laughed at him.

'But what else is said on the street, Lee Sunbae?' she asked curiously. Yi Jeong never mentioned anything to her. Did he have a secret he's not telling?  
'So far that's all I got,' Reporter Lee sighed. 'I don't know why, or who, and the police don't know anything either. Everything involving those chaebol lives are always seems so shrouded in mysteries. I wonder why that is.'  
'Yeah,' she sipped her coffee.  
'Do you think you can find things for me?'  
'What? Becoming your informant?' she laughed heartily. 'You're joking, right, Lee Sunbae?'  
'Of course I'm joking,' he said sheepishly. 'Oh well, no harm in asking.'

She said good bye half an hour later after finishing her BLT sandwich and walked outside.

It was a beautiful summer day, she felt refreshed for the first time in a week, even after a bad hangover earlier in the morning. She put on big sunglasses which covered almost half of her face to ward off the glare and wandered off for a bit of window shopping. Her summer dress felt cool and light in the warm sun and light breeze. She could almost forget about the awful scene she witnessed days ago when her surrounding was as bright as this.

If only, she thought sadly, and walked to the rows of shops ahead.

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#

Jae Kyung was busy decorating the dining table when the door phone rang.  
'Uh, it's me,' Ga Eul's voice was a little scratchy on the video intercom.  
'Oh, hello. I didn't know you're coming early. Come in.' she buzzed open the lobby door. A few minutes later there was a knock on the door.  
'Hi,' she kissed the other girl's cheek warmly. 'I thought Yi Jeong said he was going to pick you up.'  
'He was but I skipped the office today. Here,' she handed Jae Kyung a big white box with a bakery name printed on top.  
'Lovely! But you said you didn't go to the office?'  
'Yeah, I had to do some stealth tactic to get in and out of the bakery in about two minutes before anyone from the office spotted me there.' Ga Eul laughed at her foolishness. 'Anyway, all the cupcakes you want. You need any help?'

'Nope. Everything's ready. Come here,' she lead them to the big living room and plopped herself down on the comfortable looking white couch.  
'Gosh, ' Ga Eul looked around the posh new apartment. 'This is amazing.'

The apartment was located right in the heart of the city, on the top level of the thirty floors building. It's the prime location, of course. From where she was seated, Ga Eul could see the uninterrupted view of the beautiful river flowing.

'Yeah, it's nice. Plus at night the city lights are amazing. Do you want any wine? Some cocktail?'  
Ga Eul paled at her suggestion instantly.  
'Water please.'  
'Huh? What's up? Are you not feeling well? Please don't tell me you're pregnant already.'  
She glared at the older girl, who shrugged her shoulders and looked far too innocently at her.

'It's just a really bad hangover from last night.'  
'Ooooh, did you and Yi Jeong, you know, hmmmm….?'  
Jae Kyung winked at her.  
'Oh God, no!' she protested. 'Of course not!' She paused. 'Well….. I don't know. I don't remember… But really I don't think so… I, ummm, I woke up fully clothed…' she trailed sheepishly.  
'You what?' Jae Kyung laughed at her loudly. 'No wonder you ran away early. Oh Ga Eul darling, you are so funny.'  
'I am so glad you find me amusing…'

Still laughing Jae Kyung walked to the kitchen and brought her a glass of fresh orange juice.  
'Here you go. Tell me everything about it.'  
Ga Eul groaned and covered her face.  
'Let me die for a while,' she said weakly. 'I need some rest.'

#

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#

A few hours later they were all sitting at the beautifully decorated dining table. Ga Eul was still in her summer dress, whereas Yi Jeong had obviously come from home and changed his office attire. He chastised Ga Eul for not keeping the driver and instead wandered around the city by herself.

'You should have at least called me to pick you up,' he said to her, to which she exaggeratedly rolled her eyes.

Ga Eul's eye rolling though, changed into a quick once over as she took in his appearance. He was wearing a pair of dark chinos with light blue shirt. His impressive shoulders shown clearly as he hugged Jae Kyung and kissed her cheek. He rolled up his sleeves to show a glimpse of his muscled arms and Ga Eul found herself wishing if only she could see the rest of him. A glance at Jae Kyung's smirk though, brought her back from the cloud.

Dinner was almost a non affair if Woo Bin had not asked Yi Jeong whether he had told Ga Eul about 'that' story or not.  
'What story?' she asked.  
Yi Jeong frowned at his friend.  
'Dude!' Woo Bin exclaimed, 'you said you were going to tell her! It's about her safety, man.'

Jae Kyung raised her eyebrows at Ga Eul, her mouth formed a word 'what?'  
She shrugged her shoulders.

'Is this something to do with someone being out for Yi Jeong Sunbae?' she asked lightly, her hand was in the middle of cutting the medium well prime rib in front of her. 'That's not it, right?' she caught the glances between Woo Bin and Yi Jeong and frowned. 'Are you guys serious?'

'Who did you hear it from, Ga Eul?' asked Woo Bin carefully.

'A Sunbae in my office,' she stopped cutting the meat and looked at him. 'He's the one reporting the case for our paper. I thought it was just a baseless rumor.'  
Woo Bin looked at Yi Jeong and signaled with his hand for Yi Jeong to speak up.  
He sighed and started to tell the story he told Woo Bin a few days before.

Ga Eul felt her jaw dropped a few centimeters. Her mouth all of the sudden felt dry. She grabbed her glass of sparkling mineral water and finished it in one gulp.

'You see now why I am reluctant to leave you alone, Ga Eul,' Yi Jeong traced his wine glass with his fingers. 'I don't know whether this was just a hunch or whether it's the real thing. But I feel guilty to drag you into this mess.'

Ga Eul felt a stab in her heart.

This attention she had been getting from him, was it only out of his sense of guilt and responsibility? This affection she thought she had felt from him, was it another false alarm like she had so many years ago?

She was right when she said to Jan Di that Yi Jeong never really ' _liked'_ her. As always, she's merely someone he's unwittingly saddled with.

'Are you OK, Ga Eul?' Jae Kyung mistook her expression for distress.  
She shook her head to clear her thoughts and forced a smile.  
'I'm fine. Really, I am.'

She chewed another piece of meat.  
Tasted like charcoal and bitterness, it almost choked her.

#

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	9. Chapter 9

_What if you  
Could wish me away_  
 _What if you  
Spoke those words today  
_ **That's easy. Joshua Radin.  
** _Drop his name  
Push it in and twist the knife again  
Watch my face  
As I pretend to feel no pain, pain, pain  
_ **T-Pain should've sung it for easy marketing**.  
Name!  
 **That Katy Perry boyfriend whatshisface.  
** How could you name Katy Perry and not John Mayer. Blasphemous.  
 **Same reason why Voldemort is known as You Know Who. JM is whatshisface.  
** How dare you!  
 **Come at me Bro.**  
 _Don't you ever say  
I just walk away  
I will always want you_  
 **Eeeeww Miley Cyrus  
** You said Eeew but you know the lyrics. I bet you sing it in the shower.  
 **I used to memorize Spongebob Song because it was freakin' annoyingly ever present on morning TV  
** Your loss for watching Nickleodeon  
 **I LOVED Jimmy Neutron and Thornberrys so shut up.**  
 _So I think of all the years spent alone  
it's like you're searching for something  
to make you feel whole_  
 **HANG ON A MINUTE MISSSY!  
I know what this is.  
It's your BROKEN HEART PLAYLIST!  
What happened?! Tell me!  
**AAAARRGGHHH!  
Jae Kyung! You're no fun!

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Fast forward a couple of days and Ga Eul was ready to ask Yi Jeong to let her pack her bag and back to her apartment. She was getting restless with each passing day, cooped up in the beautiful house. Not that she was comparing herself to Beauty from the fairy tale, but was this how Beauty felt? Trapped in the house without an exit window to the outer world? She was being overly dramatic, she knew that. But sometimes it's fun to put yourself in a fairy tale just to fight boredom.

Speaking of tale, she couldn't help thinking about the two complementing stories she heard both from Yi Jeong and from her office Sunbae. It was decidedly worrying, but in a beautiful sunny day like today, the mysterious affair seemed more and more like a fancy tale.

Weekend had been uneventful. She found a beautiful corner in the garden and set up her laptop there to work. Her only companion was a beautiful white Persian cat which despite lounged around like a bum nearby, was constantly hissing at her. Must be a female cat, she concluded after her tenth try to touch its long and gorgeous fur resulted in the cat baring its teeth at her. Not only would she have to compete with all the women in Yi Jeong's life, if ever she decided to try her luck, which she swore she'd never do, she also had to win her way to his cat. Unbelievable.

Fortunately for her, Yi Jeong was expected to give a lecture about Korean pottery in Japan and as a result had left her home alone. That is if home alone includes the set of helps and a whole squad of security team.

By the time Yi Jeong back in Korea on Monday, Ga Eul was busy working on her interview piece for the magazine. She had to admit after reviewing and transcribing their conversation, that Yi Jeong came a lot more mature, thoughtful and charming now than he'd ever been before. He sure would gain a lot more female fans after her piece came out. Not that he needed a boost in that area.

She made a note to finish the final draft as soon as possible so she could move on to other projects.

'Hey Ga Eul, do you know that there is a string of 452 active volcanoes in the ring of fire belt stretched around Pacific Ocean?'  
'Ummmmm….' Ga Eul turned her chair around, looking at Hana, her office mate sitting closest to her desk.  
'130 of them are located in Indonesia.'  
'Errrr.. are they?'  
'That's like, what, volcanoes everywhere.'  
'Ummm, maybe not everywhere.'  
'Of course it's everywhere, duh.' Hana rolled her eyes. 'Apparently some of them are being really, really active and erupting right now.'  
'Yeeesss?'  
'And flights are suspended because of the dust. Are they, like, suspended because the pilot can't see where they are going? Aren't there wipers outside the window? Do they have water squirt out from below to clean the glass window? Where do you think they put the water? I mean, what happened if they hit a bird or something. Fascinating huh?'  
'Errr….'  
'They should definitely have them, right?'  
'Pretty sure that's not how airplane works.' She mumbled.  
'Do you know that a super volcano eruption can trigger a mini ice age?'  
'I… just, like, what are you working on now?' Ga Eul asked curiously. 'Something for national geographic?'

Hana looked at her like she had gone mad for asking such a question.  
'Obviously, article for the top ten holiday destinations, duh.'  
'But…'  
'Naturally I'm researching Bali, which, just so you know, is located in Indonesia.'  
'I know that…'  
'Yeah? Good for you. Look at all these brochures,' Hana waved her hand to show her messy desk. 'Am really spending lots of time looking at the beaches and dive sites. And got distracted with volcanoes.'  
'Right.'

She looked intently at Ga Eul. 'We should really go and hike a mountain some time. Put it down in our bucket list.'  
'Why?'  
'Tone your legs and apparently it's all in the rage. Plus have you seen the latest batch of active wear they have in the shop? Totally freaking cute. I wouldn't mind wearing them to the office.'  
'Of course…'

She shook her head and switched her focus back to her screen. Sometimes she wondered if her friend was all there.

Yeah, if only she could throw all her feelings for Yi jeong down a volcano like Frodo did to that ring, she would gladly go on a hike up Mordor, fighting the scary giant spider and hungry orcs. Only that there was still that possibility of her ended up jumping into the said volcano after that ring, just like Gollum did. The thought depressed her a little more. Was she as bad as Gollum? Holding on to something she shouldn't have had in the first place?

Damn it Yi Jeong, she mumbled quietly in annoyance, now you even make me questioned my sanity and compare myself to Gollum. Just awesome.

She reached for her mobile phone and dialed the garage to check on her car, thinking it would be just her luck if it had turned out that the car was still in a sorry state and not fit for driving even after two weeks repair time. To her utter surprise, the receptionist told her that it was ready to be picked up.  
'Great!' she found herself smiling. 'I'll be there after six.'

She put back the phone on her desk and started humming to herself.

Broken heart playlist? Pffftttt, that girl Jae Kyung knew nothing whatsoever about her. What broken heart playlist? To be contrarian she started humming the new wonder girls' song.

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#

By six thirty, Ga Eul had left the garage with her small and sleek red Hyundai accent. She loved her compact car since it was about the only car easy enough for her to maneuver to get inside her small allocated space at the apartment car park.

She was not all too happy, however, when she heard about how much she had to pay for the repair cost.

'Why is it so expensive?' she frowned and looking intently at the bill. 'I thought it was just the battery replacement. It can't be that expensive, right?'

But the owner told her it was the starter system that got malfunctioned and needed a lot of replacement and tune up. 'You know me for a long time now, Miss Chu. Did I ever charge you for something you don't need?'

She took a deep sigh and gave her credit card to pay the bill. Gone was her holiday saving for Christmas. She had been planning for a back packing trip to Europe with Jae Kyung. Now it looked like she had to go and spend Christmas holiday at his dad's hometown. It wasn't that she didn't want to see her parents, oh she loved them dearly, but she had made plans on what to bring, where to go, the sightseeing they were going to have. Again she sighed as she signed the receipt. Such is life, she thought mournfully.

The sun was close to set. Ga Eul loved the bright orange color interrupting the darker blue on the horizon. Fall was always her favorite season, but she also loved these summer afternoon when day turned to dusk. She drove slowly, savoring the freedom after two weeks of buses, taxis, and Yi Jeongs. She had informed the driver earlier not to bother collecting her from the office.

'But Mr. So specifically instructed me to wait on you, Miss.' He said, a little bit worried.

She assured him that she was a perfectly capable driver. Plus, no one, absolutely no one could pick up her car from the garage other than herself. 'The owner said so, 'she lied. One of these days, she had to start learning ways to improve her lying. Because _that_ , well _that_ sounded stupid even as she was saying it.

She took a quick detour to check on her apartment and grabbed a few more office wear and essentials for the next few days. She had agreed to stay with him until the end of the week. It was easier to just hold on to their agreement rather than risking another argument with Yi Jeong (for she might lose another argument yet again and ended up staying with him longer).

By the time she left her apartment, the day had completely turned into night. She sent a quick message to Yi Jeong telling him where she was before settling comfortably on the driver's chair and started her car.

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#

The So residence was located at the older part of Seoul. It was an affluent suburb where houses tended to sit on large blocks of land. The streets around the area were normally quite sleepy since there was no housing complex or business district around. Ga Eul loved to just walk along the street with its beautiful trees lined up from one end to another. It was a completely another world to the area she's used to live with blocks of apartments and convenient stores crowding the neighborhood.

She drove her car steadily, covering miles with an easy pace. It wasn't long before she left the business district and heavy traffic. The busy after hour had ended, leaving her with quiet road ahead. She didn't really pay much attention to her surrounding until she heard a tooting horn from a car behind. She glanced at the speedometer to find that she was driving about 50 km/hr. What an ass, she thought, rather annoyed. She pushed the accelerator a little. The car behind seemed to follow her along. It was a little weird, but she drove along anyway.

The second time she got tooted, she turned on her left indication, telling the driver to overtake. Weirdly, the driver seemed to not care about it and follow her still. She glanced at the mirror to see a black SUV with dark windows following her along. It was a rather big SUV as well, the kind which had horse power compared to her compact car.

This was getting creepy she thought and pushed down the accelerator. She really didn't want to stop in the middle of the quiet street and wait to see what the annoying car wanted to do with her.

'Stupid car,' she mumbled as she put a distance between her and the black car. Her relief, however, didn't last long. A few minutes later she saw on her rear view mirror the lights from the black SUV closing the distance quickly. She pushed down the accelerator but it really was no contest based on the size of their engines alone.

Seconds later she heard and felt a crash on the back of her car, like another car slamming on her bumper. This was crazy, she turned her head briefly, only to see the black SUV closing the distance again. Oh fuck, fuck, fuck. She wished they were still at the CBD area and not in this quiet and sleepy stretch of road with no road camera installed nearby. Her heart beat loudly, she felt like her stomach dropped when the SUV bumped into her car the second time around. It was not an overly loud and heavy crash, but enough to jerk her car forward like a hard tackle from behind.

'What the fuck!' she yelled as she pushed her car faster. What insanity was this? Fear started to trickle into her mind. Who would want to harm her? Or scare her to death? Because it's working rather splendidly now. Cold sweat started to form on her forehead. What if Yi Jeong's tale was right, she cringed, that she had become a target by associating herself to him? 'No, please just no,' she gritted her teeth almost painfully, her palms sweaty on the steering wheel.

The third collision didn't come from behind. The SUV at last overtook her, if only to crash its body to the side of her car. She screamed loudly as the car swerved like mad, her feet pushing the brake almost as if she tried to stand on it, willing the car to halt. It felt like a slow motion scene in a movie, snapshots of stills strung together in a music video, the longest few seconds she had ever experienced in her life. Despite her desperate attempt to stop, the car hit the big fig tree on the side of the road. She screamed and screamed even as the airbag popped out from the steering wheel and the engine stopped running.

When she finally came to her senses, the black SUV was already gone. She opened the door and stepped outside, hands grasped firmly on the metal body. She felt weak liked she had just run a full marathon, her throat parched and legs felt like jelly. 'Fucking hell,' she whispered before her legs gave and she slumped down on the ground. Her car silent beside her, like a big piece of metal wall standing between her and the road.

Fucking hell, she repeated, her breath ragged on her ears.

She leaned back in distraught and pressed her head against the cold metal, hands covering her face.

Then she started to cry.

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#


	10. Chapter 10

**I'm gonna kill that fucker!  
** Who? The guy who crashed Ga Eul's car?  
 **No. Bill Cosby.  
OF COURSE THE FUCKER WHO TRY TO MESS WITH GA EUL!  
And maybe your stupid best friend for putting Ga Eul in danger in the first place.  
**Awww come on now, babe, you know it's not his fault  
 **I am still angry.  
** At Yi jeong?  
 **At him. At the whole situation.  
And a little bit at you.  
**At ME?  
 **Yes. Why did you not insist on my staying in Korea instead of letting me off to NY!  
** Babe…  
 **Now I have a jetlag AND can't rush off to see Ga Eul**.  
But you said..  
 **I KNOW WHAT I SAID!  
** OK then. Well.  
YOU GET BACK HERE NOW AND FORGET ABOUT ALEXANDER WANG! HE'S NOTHING MORE THAN AN OVERRATED DESIGNER!  
 **WHAT THE FUCK!  
** Yes exactly.  
 **ARGHH!  
** Calm down babe.  
Yi jeong is staying with Ga Eul at the hospital now. He's not going anywhere.  
Jan Di and Jun Pyo have visited as well. Jan Di was _thisclose_ to gift a nurse with a flying kick for suggesting only closest person should stay with Ga Eul, and she wasn't that person. You should see her face.  
I have a few things to sort out at the office but will be in close contact with them at all time.  
 **Send my love to Ga Eul. I'm so worried. I think she switched off her phone.  
** I love you.  
 **Love you too.  
The wedding dress is going to be beautiful, btw.  
As beautiful as Alexander Wang's forehead.  
**YOU FUCKING GET BACK HERE NOW!

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#

When Yi Jeong was still but a young boy -this was before he met his three best friends, obviously- he idolized his one and only brother So Il Hyun. Like any other little boys with older brothers, he would follow him everywhere, tried to catch his interest. Most of the time Il Hyun would alternate between tolerated or ignored him, left him alone at home and played with his 'big boy' group. Sometimes, though, Il Hyun would allow him to come and play soccer with him, taught him to swing the bat correctly as they played baseball in the huge backyard of their family mansion. So Il Hyun was a hero in his young mind.

Although the detail was hazy in his mind, there was one incident brought about around the time Yi Jeong started his second year elementary. He was already making friends at school, and as a result would spend his time doing play dates at his school mates' house and not following his brother as much as before.

Il Hyun, for his part, started to venture outside the stifling rules of So household. Even from his young age he had shown his streak of rebelliousness. It was becoming a common occurrence for him to run off the gate after the driver dropped him home from school and out somewhere. To the park, mall, cinema, or playing ball with other kids who didn't fit in their social circle. A fun game, a harmless fun until it became not so harmless anymore.

One particular afternoon, he didn't come back home. Then the afternoon slowly passed, and dusk became dark, and people started to get panic. That was the first time Yi Jeong saw his father comforted his mother with more than just a courteous necessity. He knew something bad had happened then, because his father usually acted like a bully asshole to his emotionally fragile mother.

The police came that very evening to assess the situation (because frankly, who would have said no when the renowned So family asked the police force to come to the house). Their fear was justified, however, as they got a call that very night from someone identified himself as the kidnapper asking for a ransom note. The panic mode was set in alarming high as his mother fainted in the middle of the phone call and had to be sent to the hospital. Truly, a dark night in his family history.

The kidnapping ended up in happy note when Il Hyun was found a day later in an abandoned garage downtown, gagged and bound, but nonetheless healthy and unharmed. At least physically. The police later called it a triumph since they never did pay the ransom, and it looked like the kidnapper failed to follow through his plan for fear of the police force pressing in. The kidnapper though was never found.

The harmless fun stopped that day. Gone was the after school soccer fun. In place were taekwondo and kendo sessions, history and pottery lesson.

Sometimes Yi jeong wondered how would their life now be different had that incident never occurred in the past. He was sure the trauma was one of the reasons why Il Hyun denounced their wealth and decided to live as a commoner. But this was a story for another day. What he remembered now was that panic feeling, spreading in his little body, the fear that there's a possibility he would never have seen his brother again for the rest of his life. It made him indescribably angry, desperate, and numb all at once. Exactly the same feeling he experienced as Ga Eul's voice spoke to him on the phone, hysterical amidst the sob, telling him that someone just tried to cause her harm.

It was horrible.

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#

Yi Jeong was having his drinks in one of the clubs downtown, his usual hanging out place when he didn't want to be disturbed. It was almost like a gentlemen club with younger crowd and better choice of music, where not many female patrons attending the venue. Maybe it was because of the wall to wall hard liquor as the drink of choice instead of wine and cocktail. Yi Jeong liked it there for the peace and quiet it offered him. Soft jazzy music was playing and it fit his somber mood perfectly.

He had been thinking about his and Ga Eul's encounter a few nights before, the kissing and drunk confession. He had wanted to address it, talked about it, made a conversation on the issue, but couldn't quite decide on how to approach her. Was it OK to just blurt it out during breakfast time? Saying something like, all acting nonchalant, Oh, about that time you kiss me, remember that? All the while buttering their toast and sipping orange juice. He thought it would be fine if she did remember, but what if she didn't? The thought gave him headaches, and they had not even had the conversation yet.

There's another thing to address as well. The bit where Ga Eul say all those things about her hating him and yet she was the one initiated the kiss. Which one should he take as a sign? The hating one or the kissing one? And why on earth would she hate him in the first place? He's a decent person inside, really. Why are women so difficult to understand, he sighed and sipped his drink. A couple of empty shot glasses lined up in front of him already.

'Hey Bro,' a friendly hand tapped on his shoulder. He lifted his head to see Woo Bin took a seat next to him. He motioned the bartender for another drink for his friend.  
'You'll have the same, right?'  
'Yeah, whatever you're having is fine.'  
They waited until their drinks were served and the bartender stepped away from their seat at the bar.

'Any news?' Yi jeong asked his friend as he sipped the amber colored liquid in his glass.

Woo Bin shook his head. 'Not a damned thing beside what Ga Eul had told us last time. It's really baffling. Either the perpetrator is a genius for hiding all his misdeed or he is someone outside your art circle. Which means that we are looking at the wrong crowd all this time and it has nothing to do with art industry at all.'

Yi Jeong frowned.  
'But this is even more confusing,' he started. 'I have nothing to do with things outside the museum or the resorts. I don't think we have any conflict with the locals in any of the hotel expansions.'  
'Yeah, well, when we have exhausted the possibilities in one direction, that means we have to start looking at the other option.'  
'This is depressing,' Yi jeong groaned.  
'Did you clean someone out in a casino or something?' Woo Bin asked offhandedly.

Yi jeong glared at him.  
'What?' Woo Bin shrugged, 'Just asking.'  
'I don't gamble, jeez, you know that.'  
'Well maybe you picked up a new hobby without telling me.'  
'I hardly have hobbies these days.'  
'Except for babysitting your ladylove.'  
'I need more than just babysitting.' He sighed.

Woo Bin barked a laugh until Yi Jeong shot him a warning glance.  
'Sorry,' he said, clearly not a little bit sorry and took a sip of his drink. 'It's just too funny coming from you.'  
'Glad to be your source of entertainment.'  
'Oh come on man, drink! You need more than just a glass.'

'Damn right I need more than just a glass,' Yi jeong signaled the bartender for another round when his mobile phone rang. 'Hang on,' he glanced at the screen.

Woo Bin laughed; he quite enjoyed watching his friend walked blindly when it came to his relationship with Ga Eul. There is always a new side of people, even those you have known for almost all your life, he thought rather amusedly. He was still smirking when Yi jeong's rather tensed tone alarmed him.

'What did you say?' Yi Jeong voice was serious. 'What? Where are you?' Woo Bin looked at his friend getting paler as the call went on. 'Oh Ga Eul, have you called the police?' Yi Jeong ran his fingers through his hair, looking helplessly at Woo Bin. 'No? Ok don't worry. Listen, I'm going to call the police now, OK? You wait for me over there.' He paused. 'I'm with Woo Bin, we'll be there in about twenty minutes.' He listened some more. 'Oh honey, please don't cry now. Wait for me OK? I'm going to hang up now, because I need to speak to Woo Bin about what happened. But I will call you back, OK?' He listened some more, 'Yes, I will be there. Just you wait.'

He hung up and put his hand over his face for a second before took a few bank notes from his wallet and put them at the bar.

'Hey what happened?' Woo Bin asked his distraught friend but soon fell quiet as Yi Jeong's face hardened, his jaw clenched so hard like he was trying not to scream in frustration.  
'What happened man?' Woo Bin asked again.  
'Ga Eul got into an accident. Come on, take me there. I'm in no shape to drive.' He walked out without waiting for an answer. Woo Bin swiftly followed him.

It was already late in the evening, a typical sultry summer weather when the wind seemed to stop, gathering force for the next day's rain.

Woo Bin drove his car quietly while Yi Jeong kept talking on his phone to Ga Eul after calling the police first. Comforting her, he guessed, until at last the police arrived on site and he hung up his mobile.

'They are going to pay for this, Woo Bin. You mark my words, they are going to pay for all these,' Yi Jeong spoke through clenched teeth. His face pale, his fist opening and closing, tensed, like he couldn't wait to punch someone, anyone.

'We'll be there in five. Calm down, man. Don't let her see you being upset like this.'  
'Of course I'm fucking upset! How can I not be upset!' he glared at his friend next to him, but it didn't have any effect on his friend. Woo Bin kept his calm, his hands steady on the steering wheel.  
'I'm not saying you shouldn't be angry, man. But don't let her see you like this. It will just upset her further.'

Yi Jeong leaned his head back on the head rest. 'I'm getting crazy, Woo Bin-ah. Help me find the bastard who did this to her.'

###################################################

#

When they arrived at the accident site, a series of criss-crossing orange and white tape had been put in place surrounding Ga Eul's car. The quiet road had transformed into a swarm of police activity. One wondered whether this was a common occurrence that so many police officers showing on site for this kind of accident, or was it because it was So Yi Jeong who made the call. A police woman was standing in front of Ga Eul, taking her statement. A small note book was in her hand, while she was busy writing with a rather large ballpoint.

Yi Jeong and Woo Bin parked the car just behind the police vehicle where Ga Eul sat. They quickly stepped out of their car and approached her.

She turned her head as they came nearer and gave them a brave small smile. Close up, they could see her tear streaked eyes, smudges of hastily wiped mascara evident in the harsh light of the police car. Yi Jeong felt something like a tug in his heart, helpless, worry, mixed with anger at the thought of someone had done this to his precious Ga Eul.

'Yi Jeong Sunbae, Woo Bin Sunbae,' she greeted them from her seat, her voice still a bit shaky but the hysterical sobs had gone. She was eerily calm as they quickly made their presence known to the police woman.

Woo Bin nodded his greeting and whispered quietly to Yi Jeong before he walked over to the detective conducting the investigation whereas Yi jeong moved closer to Ga Eul, his arm stretched out to reach her.

'Are you OK?' he pulled her into a calming hug.  
She nodded, her face felt cold under his touch despite the warm evening.  
'Sorry for calling you like that,' she whispered. 'I just, I just couldn't think straight and you were the only person I could think of.' She bit her lips and paused, seemingly to stop getting emotional yet again.

'Oh that's OK darling,' he ran his hand on her hair. Another hand stayed on her back holding her close. 'You have nothing to apologize.'

Yi Jeong stayed with her until she finished giving her statement to the police. Afterward he approached Woo Bin who was still talking to the detective in charge; he wouldn't be too surprised if Woo Bin knew every high ranking policeman in the field right now.

'Do you think it is OK to take her home?' he asked.

'Hello Mr. So,' the detective nodded at him. 'Yeah, it's fine, although it's probably better if you took her to the hospital first. She said she feels OK but do you see the state of her car? The airbag helped but also knocked her quite hard from the steering wheel. I would check her just to be extra careful.'

'Yeah, thank you.' He made a quiet signal to Woo Bin. 'Shall we?'

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#


	11. Chapter 11

Do you know what I don't like about horror movies?  
 **They make you into a tragic blubbering glob of Scooby Von Shaggy Doo?  
** Do NOT!  
 **Do you remember middle school? Do you remember how much you pissed me off when we watched the first Evil Dead movie on video and you kept turning it off every five minutes?  
** That's a lie.  
 **And it was supposed to be scary-fun, not scary-SCARY!  
** It was scary- _SCARY_. What are you talking about?  
 **And don't let me start with THE RING.  
** AAAAAhhhh don't mention that movie! I'm going to cut you off my friends list on Facebook if you do.  
 **And yet you were the one who insisted on watching Twilight how many years ago?  
** You call it a horror movie? It was romance!  
 **Eeewwww. I was going to unfriend you the very next day but thought better of it.  
** At least we stopped at Twilight.  
 **Yeah because you found another thing to obsess over.  
** Please don't call Harry Potter fanfics a 'thing'. It is a weirdly wonderful world of strange and beautiful things.  
 **You even made a fanfic about a squid loving spider.  
** I mean, seriously, they are called Aragog and the giant squid. And what can be the testament of the greatest and truest love of all if not for the ancient giant squid which lived in the deep embrace of the cold lake that found love with a spider which lived in the darkest part of the dark forest. Really! Have some respect.  
 **Sigh… anyway… your horror movie…  
** Yes. I don't like how the female characters are almost always turning into spineless simpering mess, who needs rescuing by their hero.  
 **Yeah, that's like almost all Hollywood movies.  
** But more so on horror movies.  
 **And?**  
And I feel like I'm turning into one of those spineless simpering mess... Jan Di, what should I do…..  
 **Oh Ga Eul…. Honey, please don't say that.**

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#

'I think you and I need a little break.'

Ga Eul and Yi Jeong were sitting at the porridge shop for dinner. She insisted on stopping by before going back home after her release from the hospital for the old time sake. She missed 'Master', her and JanDi's former boss, and she missed Master's delicious cooking. The shop was bigger now, a far cry from how it used to be, with another level added to the shop. Master only really cooked one or two days a week now that he opened another franchise in another suburb. The rest were done by his employees. Today was, however, his special one day a week, and the first thing Ga Eul did when she arrived was greeted him and gave a small hug before ordering a bowl of abalone soup for Yi Jeong and a bowl of pumpkin for her. Master gave her his most endearing smile but glared at Yi jeong, as if he was the one responsible to steal Ga Eul from him.

They took the table closest to the window.

'Do you remember this place? You said I was a country bumpkin so many years ago,' she said to Yi Jeong as they waited for their soup to arrive.  
'I was a horrible little snot.' He smiled at her. 'A remarkably handsome one, though.'  
'A gracious one as well, I see.' She narrowed her eyes and pointedly looked at him, her arms folded on the table in front of her.  
'Exactly how you liked it.' He raised one eyebrow, his smirk deepened.

Ga Eul didn't know what to say to that and pretended to not listen, relieved when master came out at last with their order.

She didn't stay long in the hospital, as it turned out. There was no outright physical damage like broken bones or even scratches on her body, but the emergency doctor advised her to stay overnight just in case. He did inform her, however, that there might be some visible bruises on her body and face forming in the next few days from the impact. On Jan Di's insistence, they performed a full check up to determine whether she suffered a head injury from the accident.

Yi Jeong stayed with her all night even though she tried to convince him to just leave her alone. She didn't want to be his 'responsibility' was a word she said to him. To which he curtly said that she was wrong, she was never just a 'responsibility' to him. It baffled her. Wasn't that essentially what he had said during the dinner party at Woo Bin's house? That he felt responsible for her?

She was deep in thought, playing with the spoon in her bowl, barely eating the pumpkin soup in front of her, when Yi Jeong reached out and gingerly touching her face.

'Hmm?' she startled and looked up.

He was looking at her with serious expression. 'You have bruises here.' his strong and callous fingers softly traced her temple, brushing a few strands of hair off her face. 'And here, and here,' he continued on tracing down her cheek, her jaw, and finally the contour of her chin. Ga Eul swallowed with much difficulty. Her breath shallow, her heart hammering loudly in her ear, this was the stuff straight from her imagination oh so many years ago whenever she pictured him in her mind. In her opinion, Yi Jeong, or any of the members of F4 really, should have come with a dangerous warning tag. A mere touch from him and she was left like a puddle of melted ice cream in a hot sunny day.

She grabbed his hand and kept it away from her face.  
'Don't do that please,' she almost hissed.  
'Does it hurt?' he misunderstood the cause as to why Ga Eul pushed his hand away.  
'No, it's fine. It's just a little bit sore,' She gave a small smile and resumed her eating.

He took a deep sigh and leaned back on his chair, his arms folded on his chest. Ga Eul marveled at how good he looked even after spending a night at the hospital with her, still wearing the same clothes he had worn yesterday. His white shirt wrinkled under his dark grey suit, and he had abandoned his tie altogether. How could someone look so good without even try, she mused. The world is never fair indeed.

'I think you and I need a little break. What do you think?' he said all of a sudden.  
'Do you mean a break from each other?' she asked. Why, that had been her intention all along, but it still stung coming from him.  
He rolled his eyes. 'No silly.' He paused. 'We need a holiday. How about we leave Seoul for now? Let the police, and Woo Bin, handle this, and we get away for a while.'  
'But….'  
'What happened last night just didn't make sense to me Ga Eul,' he frowned and changed his position. 'It scared me. I obviously don't want to let you go anywhere alone anymore, and really, I think it's safer for us to just keep a distance from this city, at least for a while. Say yes please.'

It's too funny, she thought, these circumstances that brought them together. Why couldn't it happen years ago, when her expectation was still up there in the sky, rather than bittered by the passing time.

She pulled out a piece of paper napkin from its plastic container and absent-mindedly played with it while thinking about Yi Jeong's offer.  
'I'm a little busy in the office now.'

'You can bring your computer and do your work while we're away,' he countered. 'Come on Ga Eul. This has blown out of proportion, this, whatever we're dealing with now. It is not just some small and insignificant matter anymore. You know that yourself. I would never forgive myself if ever something like this happened to you again.'

'But I haven't talked to my superior.'  
'I will talk to her if need be. But she will understand. Right?''I suppose.' She reluctantly agreed. Even though her boss was strict on her work ethic, she was not someone who couldn't see reason, especially when it had something to do with one's life.  
'OK, I will talk to her.'  
'Good.' Yi Jeong wiped his mouth and hand after finishing his food. 'Where do you wanna go?'  
She shrugged her shoulders. 'I don't care.'  
'Hot weather or cold weather?'

She felt a small smile tugged her lips. Is this how they decide on holidays, the F4? Not counting the fund available, obviously.

'A little cooler will be good,' she said.

He nodded. 'Yeah, I need to cool down myself.' He finished his drink and took a large bank note from his wallet. 'Come on, we need to pack.'

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#

There's something so inherently interesting with the way the world worked. It's amusing to her how, in almost every case, expectation always seemed to trump reality. But then there were times, not often, obviously, where the expectation held no candle to the reality she's facing. Like now.

Ga Eul stood outside in her thickest coat; scarves and gloves covered her skin from the blowing wind. Light snow had started to fall, gracing the ground with its pure soft whiteness. She tilted her head upward, welcoming the cold on her face. See, when she said she would like to go somewhere cool, she was thinking about mountain resorts just close by to Seoul, somewhere in Gangwon-do province, perhaps. Not all the way to freaking New Zealand. Then again, the last time she had gone with F4 guys and Jan Di was to New Caledonia for a weekend away. Nobody said they did things half assed.

She was ready to go back inside when the automatic door behind her opened and Yi Jeong came out looking rather please with himself. She eyed him curiously.

'What's up?' she asked him. 'You look happy.'  
'I might have a surprise for you.' He grinned at her like a little boy.  
'What kind of surprise?'  
'Well it's not going to be a surprise if I tell you now, is it?'  
She rolled her eyes to heaven.  
'You surprised me enough by taking me all the way here, Yi Jeong Sunbae,' she said. 'Another one might just kill me from over excitement,' she was proud to keep her tone dry.  
'I can assure you, Ga Eul, so far, the one who almost died from over excitement was definitely not you,' he answered dryly.  
'What does it suppose to mean?'  
'Oh nothing,' he started walking and offered her his arm. 'Let's have a walk before dinner.'

They huddled closely together as they slowly made their way to the lake.

'It's beautiful,' she said, admiring the dark water in front of them.  
'It's even more beautiful in the morning.'

They stood there in silence, content to not speak a word, as if the mere sound of their voice would pop the magical bubble they were in. The pouring snow, though, forced them to retreat back inside the warm room.

They decided to stay in for dinner, ordering room service menu at Yi Jeong's room instead of bracing the snowy weather to the many restaurants nearby. He had them stayed at a couple of penthouse suites next to each other (of course he would), with view overlooking the lake. It boggled her mind how people could spend their money so carelessly when she had to save for a year for a back packing holidays (and even then she had to rearrange her plan since the money had gone now to fix her now useless car).

She came to his room, dressed in simple white t-shirt and skinny jeans with sandals and no accessories. She kept her long hair in simple ponytail with minimal make up. How else would people dress for holiday when they weren't even venturing outside the hotel, she reasoned. The door was opened on her first knock.

'Uh, hello?' she stuttered, a little bit unsure. 'We are staying in for dinner, right?'  
'Erm, yes. You said you didn't want to go out again tonight. Come on in.'

She took in his appearance. Yi jeong looked as stylish as ever. He was wearing a fancy dark grey sweater over black pants with a pair of brown loafers to complement the look.

'Should I, should I change my clothes first?' she mumbled.  
'Why?' he frowned at her. 'You look beautiful.'  
Now, Ga Eul knew that was a blatant lie if she had ever heard one.  
'How come you always look so…so…' she searched for the right word, 'so put together all the time. It makes everyone around you feel so inadequate.' She looked down to see her t-shirt and sandals. 'I feel like I need a stylist 24/7 just to keep up with you.'

He laughed at her. 'Is that your way to say that I look really good right now?'

She smiled at him.

'I supposed so. Yes, Yi jeong Sunbae, you look really good right now.'  
He winked at her and led her to the dining table.  
'You're lucky,' he said. 'The food had just arrived.'

Dinner was lovely. They both had racks of lamb, which Yi jeong said was properly New Zealand since they couldn't eat their national icon, the kiwi.

For once, Ga Eul felt happy, and she wondered why. Was it because of the holiday? Because they were so far, far away from Seoul and the problems that had been plaguing them? Everything seemed more light-hearted to her, the first time in weeks.

After dinner they moved to the couch and watched current affair on TV.  
'Doesn't this remind you of our last dinner together?' Yi Jeong said as he poured a glass of wine for her.  
'Does it?' she accepted the big wine glass he offered her.  
'You don't remember what happened?'  
'Should I?' she dreaded what was coming. Did she pass out last time?

Yi Jeong smiled at her but said nothing. Instead he took a big sip from his glass, put it on the coffee table and reached for the remote. 'This is boring,' he said. 'Do you want to watch anything else?'

She shook her head, letting him surfed the channels for a while until he found the sport channel. So typically male, she wanted to laugh.

'Can I ask you something?' Yi Jeong suddenly turned his attention to her.  
'Yes?'  
He was silent for a while.  
'Why did you avoid me, Ga Eul?' he said at last. 'I know that you did. You still do.' He continued as she started to protest. 'Do you really hate me?'  
'What?' she felt her jaw went slack.  
'That's what you said last time.'  
"What? When did I…'  
'You really don't remember?' Yi Jeong slid over to sit next to her.

Ga Eul felt her heart stopped beating.

'You don't remember this?' his fingers touching her face. She swallowed hard, her whole body was strangely frozen and yet on fire.

Softly Yi Jeong removed the wine glass from her trembling hand and put it away. 'You really don't remember?' his face was only inches away; she could feel his breath on her face. 'What about this?' she closed her eyes when his lips at last landed softly on hers.

He kissed like how she thought he would. Softly, tenderly, but at the same time possessive, passionate, unyielding. She marveled at the softness of his lips, the familiarity of it. She felt like they had done it so many times before. He held her close as her mouth opened and he seek entrance. She felt an electric jolt as their tongues met; and all her hazy memory came rushing back to her.

'Oh my God,' she quickly pushed him away; her hand flew to cover her mouth. 'I.. I…'

She shook her head when Yi Jeong tried to reach for her hand.

'I feel so embarrassed right now,' her voice shaking. 'Just, please don't, I'm so sorry, I need to go back to my room.' she stood up and started to walk backward, her calf hit the sharp corner of the coffee table but she didn't care.

'Ga Eul, please stay honey,' Yi Jeong started after her. But she shook her head again and quickly walked away. This was the most embarrassing moment in her life. Oh God, Oh God, Oh God.

She opened the door to her room, closed it and stood there for a long time, not bothered to put her room card on the main power switch. After a while she weakly leaned back against the wall and let her body collapsed on the floor. She sat there hugging her knees, feeling the cool air in the still dark room, while her face burned like fire. She remembered climbing onto Yi Jeong's lap, almost dry-humping him, kissing him like a…., like a…, like how she always wanted to kiss him. Oh God, she cringed and balked at the memory. Did she really say to him how she hated him? That was not true and yet not totally untrue, she sighed. This was beyond horrendous. On the scale of 1 to 10, 1 being knock your head on the window sill and 10 being accidently roast your own nuts, this was, well, this was accidently roast your own nuts right after knocking your head on the window and stabbing your toe in the process. And set the room on fire.

She was still sitting there in the dark, burying her face between her knees, when there's a knock on the door. She waited until there's another knock before she forced herself to move from her position and opened the door.

'Hi.' His voice as calm as ever.  
'Hi.' Her reply came in a small voice.  
'Can I come in?'  
She hesitated for a while before opened the door wider to let him in.

They stood there in the dark not talking. After a while Yi Jeong took her hand into his. He traced the lines on her palm gently, like a fortune teller trying to read her life, slowly moving his thumb on her skin. Her heart raced a million beats a minute as she felt his warmth on her clammy skin.

She never felt more aroused than right this moment and at the same time it scared her to bits.

'Do you want to talk?' he said softly.  
'Not really,' she almost whispered.  
'OK.' He paused. 'Shall we just go to bed for now and try again tomorrow?'  
'As long as you go to your own bed.'

He laughed at that.

'Come here, Ga Eul,' he said, one hand still holding her hand while the other reached for her waist, pulling her body to his embrace. He kissed her hair and forehead, softly gave little pecks on her nose, her eyebrows, her eyes. He tilted her chin to have better access to her lips. When at last he properly kissed her (again), she couldn't think about anything else other than him. And her. Here. Together in this room.

He kissed her for a long time, until she felt the world stopped on its axis, and time stood still.

When he pulled away, it was to say good night.

'I'll see you tomorrow for breakfast,' he said, hand on the door.  
'Yeah,' her voice almost unheard.  
'Good night.'  
'Good night.'  
He gave her another peck on the lips and closed the door.

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	12. Chapter 12

**I watched Four weddings and a funeral again last night.  
** I am changing my name.  
 **I love that movie.  
** To Whorey Mc Slutty Tart.  
 **So much so that I'm going to ask you to prepare a speech for my wedding.  
** Or Floozelle Von Floozerbach.  
 **Just like Hugh Grant did in the movie.  
** Hussy Van der Hustler?  
 **So. Start writing that speech. Now.  
** Scarlet O'Harlot.  
 **What the fuck are you talking about?  
** Did you say speech?

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Thankfully, breakfast was not as awkward as she envisioned it would be. Not an easy feat, considering. Ga Eul could hardly close her eyes last night, thinking about what had happened between her and Yi Jeong so far. What were the consequences of those kisses, how would they act now going forward? Should she just forget all those feeling of insecurities from so many years ago, when he left her alone again after he came back from Sweden? Should she ask why he did what he had done? And what about those paparazzi pictures of him that had become a common fodder for tabloids? She knew most of those pictures and stories were rubbish, made up, but one or two, or thirty, bound to be real, right?

Hundreds, thousands of questions made their appearance in her head one after another. When at last she fell asleep, her dream was full of him as well. She woke up feeling overwhelmed and rather full of dread.

She spent hours (at least that's how she felt) in the bathroom, washing, scrubbing, exfoliating. She washed her long hair, then blow-dried it to perfection, letting some wavy curls decorated her otherwise straight hair. She massaged her whole body with moisturizer just in case. Just in case of what? Well, just in case, you know. She decided to let her hair down instead of tucking them in a ponytail because Yi Jeong liked to play with them. She paused at that and slapped her own cheek for even thinking of such a thing, grabbed that scrunchie from the top of the bedside table and tied her perfectly blow-dried hair in a tight ponytail. The whole routine was nerve racking until she heard a familiar knock on the door.

Be still my beating heart, she willed herself to calm down before she let him in.

'Hello,' he smiled at her and bent his tall body slightly, giving her a kiss on the cheek. She felt her face warmed, even though she knew it was silly. After all, what base was it they covered last night?

Still, this was only the first day.

He watched her amusedly, then offered her his arm. 'Breakfast?'  
Yes, of course, she said, finally found her voice, taking his offer and tucked her hand in his elbow.

'What are we going to do today?' she asked as he read today's newspaper on the breakfast table, spread out on the sports section. She didn't even know that he followed international rugby, judging from the page opened in front of him.  
'I'm not sure. What do you want to do?' he raised his head from the paper and looked at her. 'We can walk around the city, drive around, take a boat cruise, explore the lake. Shopping. Eating.'  
'You said something about a surprise yesterday.'  
'Ah, but that's not for today,' he gave her his best serving dimples. 'Shall we ask the hotel, see what they have to offer?'

'I guess,' she reached for the pile of papers in front of him 'I never pay any attention to international rugby before. Maybe I should start,' she mumbled.  
'What did you say?'  
'Nothing,' her eyes still glued at the pictures of men in tight black rugby shirts and shorts in front of her. They looked amazing.  
'Pervert,' Yi Jeong confiscated the paper from her hand and threw it onto the next table. 'I should have known.'

She glared at him and took a big chunk of her toast, spending the rest of breakfast eating and bombarding him with questions about rugby. She really should have paid more attention to the sport. The men were just too hot for her to pass.

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They agreed to have an easy day today and rent a car from the hotel, have picnic somewhere since the sun had come out to warm the day, or go to a restaurant on the road, have lunch and visit museums and galleries. She assured him that she would enjoy everything, anything of his choosing, considering this was a surprise holiday for her everything else was just bonus.

'I didn't know you're into history,' he commented when they visited a small museum about the history of settlers in New Zealand.

This was after they drove around town, visiting a few look-out places to see the beautiful scenery of the town nestled at the shore of the lake. They bought a picnic basket and filled it with freshly baked bread from a small bakery, completed with jam and fresh strawberries. At the last minute though, they forwent the plan because the wind started to pick up and the chill started to descend from the sky and infiltrate the bones even with their thick coats and scarves.

They found a small boutique café on the hill, with uninterrupted view of the lake and the surrounding mountains, and decided to move their picnic there instead.

'There are a lot of things you don't know about me, Sunbae,' she said dryly, eyes still trained on the old poster of some gold company on the wall.  
'Why do you always call me Sunbae?'

She looked at him, rather surprised at his question.

'What do you want me to call you then? You _are_ Jan Di's Sunbae at school.'  
'Well, first of all, I was _Jan Di_ 's sunbae. Second, school was ten years ago. Third, why am I your sunbae?'  
'Well, should I call you _sunsengnim_ then, after all you kind of taught me pottery.' She gave him her most innocent expression, eyes wide with pouty lips, daring him to counter her statement.

He rolled his eyes in mock desperation and grabbed her waist, pulled her close to him and whispered softly in her ear, so close that his lips touched the outer edge of her ear, his breath warm on her skin, making her shiver unwillingly in his arm.

'Try calling me that tonight,' he said quietly so only she could hear, 'see what will happen.'

Then he released her, all nonchalantly, continued looking at the photographs from the early 1900's while she was left clutching her hand over her heart, butterflies on her stomach, blood rushing in her ears. It just wasn't fair that he always had the last word.

They arrived back at the hotel just before sunset. He asked her whether she wanted to have another room service menu for tonight, but she shook her head all too quickly. She just wasn't ready for a repeat of the previous night's dinner. Or what happened after, rather.

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What if there existed a parallel universe, Ga Eul thought, where another version of her lived and breathed and basically tried to exist. Would she be an exact replica of her? It simply useless if it did. Her ideal parallel universe would have a version of her as a superhero heiress. A bit like batman but without the harrowing childhood, a bit like superman but with more interesting personality, a bit like Sherlock Holmes but a woman.

If there existed a parallel world, would she also fall in love with another version of Yi Jeong? Would another personification of Yi jeong even existed? What would they talk about when they had dinner together while on holiday like this? Would they talk about movie? Or books? Or would they exchange gossips about their friends? Like what they were doing now.

Evening came quickly in winter time. They relished the warmth of the decidedly posh restaurant not very far from the hotel. She told herself to stop being silly and blushed every time he pulled her close while they walked from the hotel to the restaurant. He circled her waist, played with her hair, put his arm around her shoulder, it's as if he couldn't help himself from constantly touching her. It was quite frankly distracting and not very helpful in helping her manage her heart beat.

They settled for something light, since they had really done practically nothing the whole day beside restaurant hopping and driving around town. She was tucking into her plate of chicken salad when Yi Jeong asked her whether she remembered the time they went together with the rest of the gang to the ski resort and he had to save her from a stupid boarder who almost crashed into her that day.

'I am a much better skier now,' she said.  
'Really?'  
'Yes, really. Jae Kyung taught me a lot while you were away in Sweden. I can race you now on the black runs.'  
'Really!' he sounded rather doubtful.  
'Yes, really!' she narrowed her eyes. 'I bet I can finish first and you can kiss my bum for coming last. And just to make sure, we can do it three rounds.'  
'Oh, no doubt about that.' He murmured at her in husky voice, deadpan expression but eyes full of suggestion. It took her seconds to realize the innuendo before she felt her face burn. She heard him chuckled as she glared at him and stabbed her chicken rather forcefully.

'What else did Jae Kyung tell you,' he said after his chuckles died down. 'Nothing too crazy, I hope.'  
'Oh, you know,' she grinned, 'as much as you'd expect from her.'  
'Tell me about it. When I was in the military three years ago, all Woo Bin talked about whenever he called were her antics. I'm pretty sure he did that just to rile me up.' He went on to tell a story about Woo Bin describing his alcohol and party fueled holidays in the Caribbean with his girlfriend when he told his friend he had just finished doing a week long survival training in the jungle. Just to be extra infuriating.

She laughed before did the double take. 'Wait, when, what? You did the military?'  
'Of course I did.' He frowned at her. 'Did you think I managed to skip it or something, or that I pulled out all my teeth just so I could have gotten a military exemption.'  
'It's just, well, it's just that Woo Bin Sunbae and Jun Pyo Sunbae were always around. I assumed…' she trailed.  
'Yeah, that's because they did their service when I was still in Sweden, remember?'  
'Ah, of course…' she nodded. 'So… um, so, you didn't just disappear again somewhere three years ago?'  
He frowned at her. 'Is that what you think?'  
'Well,' she sheepishly averted her eyes from him.

'I guess I did kind of disappear that first year after I came back. I wanted to do everything all at once for the museum, and the business. I did a lot of travelling that year. Then I thought I'd better get the military thing over with. When I came back from the service, I was really eager to start connecting with you again, you know. But you've moved from your old apartment. The girls wouldn't tell me your address as well. They basically told me not to mess with you again. Were you angry at me?'

Angry was an understatement, she thought. She was furious. Then again, she threatened Jan Di and Jae Kyung not to tell her anything related to Yi Jeong, ever, after the 6 months of no show. And then subsequently told them never to tell Yi Jeong where she lived if he ever asked.

What a stupid cock up. This was like a scene from pride and prejudice.

She was rather silent for the rest of dinner. Even after Yi Jeong told her the surprise. That was a trip to the ski resort, he said, she liked skiing, right? Yeah, she thought, but she was in a contemplative mood after the revelation to be jumping up and down upon hearing that.

They walked back to the hotel hand in hand. Yi Jeong said they better head to the resort early in the morning so they could spend a whole day of sunshine on the snow.

He kissed her in front of her room to say goodnight. She hesitated for a while but at last, after much difficulty swallowing her breath, said in a small stuttering voice, 'Umm, would you, would you like to come in for coffee?'

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They stood in front of the door to her hotel room still, his hand still attached to her arm. She looked at him with those big doe eyes, feverish, fearful, excited, teeth biting her lower lip. Suddenly Yi Jeong felt his throat parched, all around him the temperature felt like it had risen a few notches on the scale. The air seemed to pop and crackle, the electricity running wherever they touched and he was left holding his breath, afraid to ruin the moment.

She opened the door with her key card, almost dropped it to the floor in their haste to get inside. They kissed almost as soon as the door clicked shut behind them, not bothering to put the card in the main power switch. They fumbled in the dark, trying to get to the bed without breaking the furniture, giggling and hushed-swearing like naughty children when his leg knocked one of the dining chairs and he almost toppled over her on the floor.

He paused to remove his coat, desperately trying not to lose contact with her lips at the same time. He felt her laughing against his mouth, and it made him wanting her even more. She let out a shriek when he caught her as she tried to step back away just to tease him. Her shriek turned to giggle as he backed her far enough to push her softly on the bed, and he swiftly followed. He hovered over her, propped himself on his elbows as he continued kissing her, removing layer after layer of thin barriers between them. In a more lucid moment he stopped kissing her and swore, saying that dammit, but he didn't have any condom with him. She giggled and pulled his head back for another kiss saying dammit, just freaking do it already, she's on the pill anyway.

Her giggles disappeared and turned to pants and gasps as she felt his hands, rough from his pottery, exploring her skin. Not feathery soft touches, oh no, this was not some slow burning, romantic love making. They had been engaged in some sort of emotional foreplay from the day she came to see him at the museum. They made love like thirsty travelers in the desert that just found an oasis amidst the burning sand and sun. It was frantic, frenetic, desperate, all life consuming. She moaned his name, when at last he plunged into her in desperate urgency. She called his name in feverish whispers, like prayers in his ear.

'Oh Ga Eul, honey,' he said amidst the gasps, kissing the side of her neck, sucking the tender skin of her jaw as he moved inside her, hitting all the right spots, making her forget what she was about to say.

Later, after the deed was done, after their breathing had slowed down, he enveloped her in his embrace, her head rested in the crook of his arm. And they stayed there in the dark in silence, her hand on his smooth chest, their legs tangled under the sheet. Every now and then he kissed the top of her head, played with her hair, stroke her cheek, until a particular touch made her giggle and they started again from the beginning.

A dance as old as time.

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 **Note** :

 **1**. I'll be away for holidays, guys. next update will be a little late. maybe in a couple of weeks instead of next week.

 **2**. I was reading a book by Chuck Palahniuk while writing this chapter. that's how those Whorey Mc Slutty Tarts come up. I was giggling so much reading sentence like :

 _Are you there, Satan? it's me, Madison. Please do NOT get the idea that I'm some Miss Trollopy Von Trollop. It's true that I've read Kama Sutra, but why anyone would bother to attempt such revolting gymnastics remains largely a mystery to me._

Anyway, the point is, I'm hopelessly fickle and impressionable... :D


	13. Chapter 13

**Does 'Blue Velvet' mean anything to you?  
** A type of cake?  
 **It's Red Velvet you idiot.  
** Oh. That eighties movie with Isabella Rossellini?  
 **Other than that**.  
Afraid not.  
 **Hmmm..  
** What.  
 **Well there goes my hope on a light in a tunnel  
** Hey, you have news then?  
 **I'm not quite sure yet.  
Why don't you drop by my office sometime tomorrow?  
**Shall I bring Ga Eul with me?  
 **Nah, just your self is fine.  
** Sure.

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'So where did you go in New Zealand? Did you do the lord of the rings tour? You're nuts about those movies, right?'  
Jae Kyung waved her beautifully manicured hand to get the attention from the waiters busy attending tables.  
The girls decided to have their usual once a month ladies night, a mere couple of days after Ga Eul and Yi Jeong came back from their trip. She warned them though, that Woo Bin was going to join them after his dinner with a client was over.

'Well?' she raised her perfectly shaped eyebrows.  
'No, I didn't see much, really….,' Ga Eul mumbled.

'What? But why? I read that New Zealand is really beautiful; I always want to go there.' Jan Di chipped in. She was in a good mood since she didn't have a shift at the hospital for the next two days. She had been busy catching up on her sleep and social life. 'Hey, you're the one who always make a fuss about sightseeing and stuff whenever we go on holiday. Remember when we went to Japan and you made us walk into every single damn shrine over there. You had that little note book you always carried everywhere.'

'Yeah, well…' her reply was interrupted with the arrival of the waiter to their table.

The restaurant was more like a club with live band playing after 10 pm. For now though, the DJ was playing some popular mid tempo songs with occasional slow numbers inserted in. It's by no mean a posh club like one usually frequented by the F4 back in the days. It's a popular meeting place designed more for twenty something college students and young professionals. Jae Kyung dragged them here because apparently her secretary told her that this was quite a hip meeting place for hook up. (You could bag yourself a handsome dude while we're at it, Ga Eul, she winked at her earlier that afternoon)

They ordered their food, nothing fancy, and a round of drink for all of them. It's a typical Friday night buzz and people filling those tables fast.

'Did you go skiing?' Jae Kyung asked Ga Eul, her head swayed to the music.  
'No…' she mumbled again.  
'What?!' she threw her a disgusted face. 'Seriously? What did you do then? Holed up in your hotel? Gosh.'  
'Well, it's not a holiday per se…' Ga Eul said in defense. 'I did finish all my work and sent them to my boss. So there's that…'

Jae Kyung narrowed her eyes and shook her head in mock disgust. 'Shame on you.' She said. 'And what did Yi jeong do? Waiting for you on your side to finish your work? God forbid, but both of you are absolutely boring. That's it. We're not going to ever go on holidays together ever again.'

Ga Eul mumbled some more. The truth was a little less wholesome than that. If anything, she couldn't look at her computer now without blushing at the memory of what he had done to her as she typed in words on her keyboard to the screen.

They ended up not having that ski trip the whole time they were there, seeing as it's really hard to wake up in the morning when you're constantly preoccupied until at least 3AM the night before. Yi Jeong packed his suitcase and moved to her room for the remainder of their stay, telling her there's no way he let her sleep by herself from then on. She told him she's still moving back to her apartment once this business was sorted out. He said to her she'd change her mind by the end of the week. What a cocksure, presumptuous, arrogant man. If only she had not enjoyed what he'd been doing to her that much, she would have told him to move back to his room straight away.

But she's not about to tell Jan Di and Jae Kyung _THAT_.

They made a thorough work on their dinner and drinks in no time, with Jae Kyung ordered another plate of chicken wings for the table. Sometimes Ga Eul wondered how Jae Kyung stayed slim with the ungodly amount of food she ate. Apparently some people really get all the luck, considering that girl rarely bothered going to the gym for exercise, except to do yoga together with her.

Jae Kyung was busy recounting her trip to New York to meet her dress designer for her upcoming wedding with Woo Bin when a waiter appear with another round of their chosen drinks.

'We didn't…' she trailed, but the waiter said 'It's a compliment from the gentleman in the corner'. He nodded and looked at Ga Eul.  
'I….' she started unsure. 'Should we?'  
But Jae Kyung already took a swig of her beer.  
'Oh,' she said, 'thank you?' The waiter nodded politely and went back to the bar.

They looked at the man sitting in the corner. He looked to be about late thirties or early forties, with broad shoulder and impressive muscles. He lifted his tall mug and nodded his head at Ga Eul when their eyes met. She wasn't sure what to do and smiled at him.

'Eeew, eeew, eeeew,' Jae Kyung commented as she happily drank her beer. ''I was thinking about fixing you up with a nice preppy hipster, Ga Eul, not with Mr. Bodybuilder over there.'

'Oh he's not that bad,' Jan Di chimed in, 'in an action movie villain kind of guy, you know.'  
She took another glance at the man who was still looking at Ga Eul.  
'Ugh, he's totally looking at you, Ga Eul. Creepy.'  
'Yeah, creepy,' Jae Kyung agree. 'My vote is still for a preppy hipster.'

'You guys shut up,' she snapped at them, 'I don't need any fixing up, OK?'  
'Why?' Jae Kyung shrugged her shoulder. 'Better than back to crushing on that idiot of yours.'  
Ga Eul was about to retort when Jan Di wiggled her eyebrows and giggled.

'Ssshhh, the idiot is here,' she whispered and threw a fake smile as Woo Bin and Yi Jeong made their way to their table, oblivious to the appreciative glances thrown at them by the many female (and a few male) patrons in the room.  
'Hi Babe,' Woo Bin made a beeline to Jae Kyung's seat, giving her a peck on her cheek. 'Missed me?'

His greeting was met with silence and kept unanswered as he drew back from her, a bit confused, when his usually affectionate fiancé gave no reply and instead sat there stock still on her chair, her pint glass dangling worryingly in her hand, half forgotten. 'Babe?' he turned his head to her line of sight and stopped in his track just the same. Next to Jae Kyung, Jan Di looked positively slack-jawed.

In front of them, Yi Jeong was kissing Ga Eul from behind, his lips on the side of her neck as one hand moved her hair to another side, the other one rested on her small waist, and she giggled.. _giggled_ (!) as he whispered something in her ear afterward.

They all jumped as Jae Kyung's glass dropped rather loudly on the table, spilled half of the liquid inside.  
'What….what…' Jan Di pointed helplessly at the couple still joined at the hips.  
'Oh hello girls,' Yi Jeong smiled at them, then dropped a quick innocent peck on Ga Eul's lips.

Jae Kyung narrowed her eyes and glared at Ga Eul who, to her credit, grinned at her with that innocent face of hers.  
'You said you did nothing in New Zealand!'  
'Well, I said we didn't go exploring,' she answered sheepishly. 'I didn't say we didn't do anything…'  
'So this is what you've been doing?'

'Among other things,' Yi Jeong answered without qualm, calmly eating roasted peanuts from the small bowl on the table, even when Ga Eul's sharp elbow hit his side.  
'But we were going to hook you up with a preppy hipster…' Jae Kyung lamented mournfully.  
Yi Jeong raised his eyebrows at Ga Eul who shrugged her shoulders and rolled her eyes.  
'And how about that Mr. Bodybuilder Villain over there…'

'Who?' Woo Bin chimed in.  
'The one over there….'  
They looked to the corner of the room, following Jae Kyung's gaze, but the table was empty.  
'That's strange,' Jae Kyung tilted her head. 'He was there before. He must have gone when you guys came in.'  
'Who?' Woo Bin pressed in, his eyebrows furrowed, he looked a bit worry as he glanced quickly at Yi Jeong who shook his head quietly at him.

'Ga Eul's admirer,' Jan Di waved her hand to show the drinks on the table. 'He bought us a round of drinks earlier. He must have fled when you guys started making out.'  
'We're not making out!' Ga Eul protested.  
'Oh believe me you were,' Jae Kyung smirked at her. 'Weren't they, Jan Di?'  
'Uhuh,' Jan Di nodded. 'Do it again, guys, I need to take a picture of you and send it to Jun Pyo. He's in France with Ji Hoo right now. They would think this is a hoax without picture.' She took her phone from her purse. 'Come on.'

Ga Eul glared at her, but Yi Jeong just scooped her into his arms and gave her another kiss.

'Uh this is disgusting,' Jae Kyung made a face. 'Were we ever this disgusting, babe?' she asked Woo Bin who just grinned at her.  
'Never,' he answered, before giving her a lingering peck on the side of her neck.  
Jan Di groaned. 'I'm going home,' she said. She looked positively ill.

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#

Later that night, while drinking a cup of tea in the living room, Yi Jeong told Ga Eul the bit of information Woo Bin gathered after a week of intense inquiry. Apparently the antique pottery that he tried to get for the museum a year ago, that was sold to unnamed collector, had made its way to a display case at a club called 'Blue Velvet'.

'Of course,' he added, 'that might not mean anything at all.'  
So much for moving forward.  
'But at least we have another line to explore now.'  
She nodded quietly.

'Do you….,' she hesitated, 'do you know the owner or something? You have business deal with him?'  
He shook his head and stretched his arms. 'I never even heard about the place until Woo Bin told me.'  
'Did you, did you perhaps, did you perhaps date his daughter or something.'  
'What?'  
'It's a possibility,' she said quietly.

Even without looking at him Ga Eul knew Yi Jeong was intensely looking at her with his serious expression.

'Is that what you think?' his voice was a bit distant.  
'I don't know, I don't know what to think anymore.'  
'Ga Eul, look at me please.'  
She raised her head and looked at him, he had moved from his chair to sit next to her on the couch.

'I have changed,' he said. 'I promised. I am not my father, nor do I want to be like him. You know this, right?'  
She watched his earnest expression before giving him a small smile.  
'I know,' she said. 'I'm sorry, I really didn't mean it like that.'

He took her hand and kissed the tips of her fingers.  
'It's probably a better theory anyway,' he admitted, settling her hand on his knee.

'These are all so confusing.' Ga Eul pulled her hand from where it rested and frowned, 'what else does he say about this Blue Velvet? It's such a cheesy name, isn't it? Like a porn club from the eighties or something.'  
Yi Jeong gave her an incredulous look on his face.  
She gave a dainty shoulder shrug.

'Well, I mean what does it look like, a flashy in your face at the moment kind of club, or a classy posh you're not my level so don't even think about coming here club, or a trashy micro skirt neon color dance pop club?'  
'A rather classy one, I think, from what Woo Bin told me. I don't know, I haven't been there before.'  
'Does he know anything about the owner?'  
'Not much, really. But we're only starting to dig about him, so maybe we'll get something tomorrow. All we know so far is that the club is a part of a bigger group. Quite successful, apparently. He's not known in the art industry though, so it's a bit surprising that the collection ended up there.'

She sat on the couch, biting her nail, thinking about these new bits of news. Frankly, nothing made any sense to her. The case seemed cookie cutter at first, an art dealer trying to outdo the museum and things then went too far when a life was taken. But now? She wasn't so sure anymore. This had evolved into something entirely personal when they went after her. Woo Bin's theory was that the accident had been some sort of warning for them, because the perpetrator could have easily caused more harm than just drove her off the road if he wanted to. Not a comforting thought at all.

She glanced at Yi jeong. Could someone really plot a revenge on him? But why? He said he didn't think he had done something so bad that it warranted an act of revenge. But people had done things without thinking that resulted in devastation of others. She pulled her feet onto the couch, hugged her knees and closed her eyes. She didn't have much to drink earlier at dinner, but a headache was definitely forming.

'What are you thinking?' Yi jeong's strong fingers stroked her neck and shoulder, loosening the knots and tight muscles.  
She turned her head to look at him.  
'I don't know, this feels like a story in a detective novel. I am always rubbish in guessing who the villain is,' she smiled a little smile at him. 'I might just go to bed now. Good night,' she stood up and started to walk to her bedroom.

'Are you still not going to move from your room?' Yi Jeong's playfully raised his eyebrows as he crossed his legs and leaned back against the couch, his arms flew behind to support his head on the headrest.  
Ga Eul paused in her step and turned her body around, giving him a stubborn and resolute look.

'No,' she said firmly after a few lapsed seconds. 'Good night, Yi Jeong _Sunbae_ ,' she made an emphasis on the word _Sunbae_ and turned back and continued waking. A loud chuckle escaped from his lips as she marched to her room.  
'Well, don't lock your door then,' he said a little later. 'I'll be there in a minute.'

Incorrigible. She gave him the biggest mental eye roll and purposely turned the key twice. All for show, alas.

#

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#


	14. Chapter 14

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA  
 **Shut up.  
** You looked constipated  
 **I looked calm and collected  
** Nah, that's definitely constipated  
Try to include more fiber and water into your diet.  
 **Oh shut up.  
Have you been hounded by paparazzi hell bent on taking pictures even when you told them not to?!  
Hang on. Don't answer that. Of course you have.  
Never have I felt so vilified by my own brethren  
**Pssshhh fancy words. Nice boobs btw.  
 **Suck my toes you sniveling trust fund Barbie**.  
I love it when you swear.  
Oh, btw I showed the picture to beloved fiancé, and he totally said the same thing.  
We are so meant for each other, yeah?  
I might send the picture to Ji Hoo, too, see what he has to say. Don't let that icy-cold-serial-killer exterior fool you, he's a boobs man through and though.  
 **I can't believe this. Please go away.**

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#

The down side of being a girlfriend of the (in)famous Casanova (or one of the downsides, rather) was apparently being constantly hounded by people intent on taking her photos. After a picture of Yi Jeong kissing her at the club while being in the presence of Jan Di and Jae Kyung made its way to a page of some society magazine (who would have sent it, she had asked Jan Di, horrified), a hound of photographers for whatever reasons always seemed to find their way to be in the vicinity whenever she and Yi Jeong as good as walked together. They declared that this was a rare occurrence that So Yi Jeong took his girlfriend to meet his circle of friends.

She snorted as she read the article out loud to Jae Kyung over the phone.  
'Listen to this piece of crap.

 _The much lauded princess of fashion, Ha Jae Kyung, the beautiful heiress to the powerful HA Group and a successful business woman in her own right, was also present along with her fiance Song Woo Bin in what seemed like a private gathering of sort. Is the wedding bell getting closer now for this modern day Casanova?  
Is So Yi Jeong ready to renounce his fabulous bachelor days?  
Is this a race to the altar between the two former playboys?  
Be prepared to have your heart broken, ladies.  
It seems that he's off the market (for now at least), now that he has taken his girl out to meet his exclusive group of friends….._'

'Arrrrgh! For fuck sake!' she threw the magazine on her desk. 'You and I have been friends longer than he does. He crashed our ladies night! How is it that I was the one crashing your exclusive gathering? Bullshit!'  
Loud guffaws from the phone receiver told her how thoroughly Jae Kyung was enjoying her rant.  
'And to think that I am also working for the media…..' She paused and looked around at the mostly empty office, since it was way after office hour. 'This is depressing.'

'There, there, sweetie,' Jae Kyung insincerely comforting her. 'Not everything is bad.' She paused. 'At least it says you get my approval….'  
Ga Eul hung up on her immediately.

The very next day, she was called to her chief editor's office.

'Look, Ga Eul,' she said, 'I understand that your personal life is just that. Personal. Private. But,' she paused and picked two sets of magazines from her desk. One was their issue where her interview with Yi jeong took the center page, the other one was the society magazine where the picture of Yi Jeong kissing her took place. 'But this is a bit ridiculous, don't you think? You might not want your relationship to be the center of attention on that story, but maybe a different wording here and there would be enough, and we get the scoop as well as the interview.' Another pause. 'Instead, I get to know your relationship from this,' she lifted that damned magazine slightly, 'and only a few days apart from our published issue. That makes me feel a bit foolish. You insisted that nothing was more than just friendship between you two.'

What could she have to say to that? The interview was finished and sent to her editor before her relationship even started. But would her boss even believe her? After all, like Jung So In said, the difference was only a matter of days. In the end she kept her quiet and apologized for her oversight.

The next few days were unbearable. She wasn't used to people giving her all sort of attention. It's bad enough that in the office people glanced at her like she was all of a sudden became a stranger. She even got a phone call from her Sunbae on the murder case, saying was that not called a relationship then, Ga Eul? To which she simply said things had changed, she wasn't lying, but didn't say anything else afterward.

Her humiliation was complete when one afternoon, as she walked to the car with Yi Jeong, a strong wind blew some loose papers in her hand. She was wearing a pair of dark pants and low cut front-wrap top. Without much thought, she bent over to pick up the stray papers before joined Yi Jeong back walking to his car. Such a simple action, one that she had done thousand times before. She didn't even think much when she saw a photographer snapped that moment on his camera, even as she frowned at the person who took the pictures, willing him to put the camera away. A couple of days after, though, the upper side of her breasts got a magazine treatment. They were proudly displayed as she bent over picking those scattered papers from the sidewalk.

'Nice,' was Hana's only comment as she placed the issue on her desk at the office, eyes winked at her before she snorted loudly and giggled uncontrollably. It wasn't the first time Ga Eul witnessed her office mate laughed with no reason at all, as such she didn't even picked the tabloid from her desk. Not until Jan Di sent her a text message saying 'Nice top, Ga Eul.'

Apparently she had seen it while walking past a magazine stand at the hospital.

Yi Jeong had not been much help either, laughing as she launched into a long tirade about those gossip rags.

'At least now you know that not everything you read about me was true. Not even close,' he said, peppering her palm with kisses, even as she flailed and tried to escape his grasp. 'You know what you need?' he said, 'a relaxing massage.' He proceeded to position her on the couch while he sat behind, his warm hand worked wonder on her neck and shoulders.

'That's not what I need,' she said, eyes closed as his fingers hit a particularly tight spot. 'I need those tabloids and magazines to be burned, every single one of them. My poor mom called me this afternoon, horrified to see my picture off of the internet. She said maybe I should invest in buying more turtle necks from now on.'

He laughed at that.

'You'll get used to it.'  
'But I don't want to get used to it. That's not the point. I just want them to disappear.'  
He pulled her up from her spot to his lap, 'I'm sorry,' he paused. 'Will this make you feel better?' his fingers tracing her lips.  
'Maybe,' she whispered.  
'Will this?' he walked his fingers down her neck, his lips claiming hers.

She forgot what to say after that.

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#

She ended up mastering stealth tactics to avoid getting her picture taken, even though she still didn't understand why they would be interested in taking her picture in the first place. She was far from being a celebrity, her brush off with well known people, those who regularly featured in the tabloid and gossip sites, mainly coming from her work in the magazine. Even then she hardly knew anyone by name. Oh, and being friends with Jae Kyung, apparently, the princess of fashion, even though they snorted at the ridiculous title given to her by the media.

'Well, if you can't escape it, embrace it,' was Jae Kyung's motto. Which was why, she always looked fabulous wafting around here and there in her designer garbs and off the chart shoes and handbags, totally comfortable in front of the camera with her haughty look and slightly standoffish but relaxed attitude.

But as Jan Di pointed out to her, that was all fine and dandy for Jae Kyung, it was even expected from her, but not for Ga Eul. Because people interested in Jae Kyung as Jae Kyung herself, not as someone else's wife or girlfriend. She shuddered while saying all this, clearly as uncomfortable as Ga Eul when it came to the scrutiny she was facing as Jun Pyo's wife.

Anyway, this was how she ended up sitting alone in a secluded café just in the corner of busy street in Gangnam area. Her interview with the owner of a new gallery hosting the recent exhibition for Korea's new talents, a feature she was supposed to write about for the next issue, had just finished. The busy lunch hour had died down and she was enjoying her afternoon walk back to the office while at the same time conducting a little bit of window shopping. The shops had started to get rid of the summer stuff and replaced them with the new fall line.

She was in the middle of admiring a gorgeous pair of grey suit for the upcoming fall/winter season from Prada (no, she wasn't about to buy anything from the shop, she had trouble breathing just to see the price tags) when she noticed a camera trained at her from the glass window.

 _Oh, for goodness sake_ , she cursed silently but quickly walked out of the shop, taking the side exit door, and hurriedly looking for a place to hide for a while. While it might be just a harmless photographer, she didn't enjoy the photo assumption that went along with it. It was only a few days ago that a picture of her and Jae Kyung at Tiffany shop made a round on the internet, with people speculating whether they were shopping for a wedding ring. What a load of bulls. She was, in fact, dragged by Jae Kyung to help picking some cuff links for her father's birthday.

Plus, who cares about what she does in a shop anyway, she thought. It's not like she was some well known actresses like Ha Ji Won or Song Hye Gyo who would have obviously raised the sale if they had had their picture taken in a shop, in anywhere really.

Really, those people were just so silly.

In her school days, Ga Eul had spent a lot of time frequenting around Gangnam shopping district with her friends from college; she almost knew all the alleys by heart. Moving fast, she headed to the secluded café she used to frequent and relieved when it was still there, welcoming her as she slipped inside the quiet room.

She ordered a cappuccino with a slice of New York Baked cheese cake at the counter, then found herself a corner where she could sit back and observe.

After resting her feet for a while she fished her mobile phone and called Yi Jeong's driver to pick her up since her car was nonexistent after the accident and she had made a solemn promise to Yi Jeong to not call a taxi and use his driver instead.

It wasn't long before her order came and she started making her way to the sweet treat. Diet be damned, she was pretty sure she earned it to calm her nerves, plus it was her favorite thing to order back when she was still a student and didn't have to worry so much about putting on weight.

She was only just picking up her fork when someone stopped by her table and said hello.

A bit surprised, she raised her head and saw a rather tall man with well built body with somehow familiar face, although she couldn't place it straightaway.

'Sorry to bother you, but is this yours?' the man handed over a bright orange note book to her.  
'Oh,' she was taken aback and accepted the book quickly. 'Thank you. How did you get it?'  
'You left it at the gallery,' he took the chair in front of her. 'Do you mind?'

She shook her head. 'Please.'

'Thank you. Yes, I saw you left the book and was going to give it back but you left very quickly'.  
'Oh, but you don't have to.' She smiled at him. The man must have followed her from the gallery just to give back her note book. How kind, she thought. 'Sorry, but have we met before? You seem a bit familiar…'  
He smiled at her. 'I saw you having dinner with your friends last weekend,' he said. 'Remember?'  
'Oh,' Ga Eul snapped her fingers. 'You bought us a round of drink.' She paused 'Well, thank you, you left pretty quickly before I had a chance to say thank you.'  
'That's OK,' he assured her.

'Do you work in the gallery? Or were you visiting?' she asked curiously after a few while.  
'Oh I'm just visiting.' He raised his hand to call the waiter, asking for a cup of espresso, before turning his attention back to Ga Eul. 'A friend just opened a new gallery and asked me to have a look at the exhibition. We're thinking about doing the same thing, to support new talents.'

'Oh, really?' she paused, 'I am actually doing a story about it for the magazine I'm working for at the moment. It's a series that will feature in the next few editions. Would you mind if I have a look and interview your friend as well?'

'No problem at all,' he took a card from his wallet. 'Here is my number.' Ga Eul politely accepted and read it carefully as he introduced himself formally. It was a simple card with only name and a phone number on. Jin, was his name.  
'I'm sorry,' she started and bowed her head a little, 'of course, how rude of me. My name is Chu Ga Eul.' she offered him her hand.  
'Nice to meet you, Miss Chu,' he smiled and shook her hand. 'Oh here's my coffee,' he commented as the waiter came to bring his espresso to the table.

Her vibrating mobile phone told Ga Eul that a text message just arrived. she glanced to check the screen and murmured her apology.

'My pick up is here already, I'm sorry but I have to leave,' Ga Eul made a motion to take her leave. 'I will call you later this week, if that's OK.'  
'Any time, Miss Chu,' he nodded at her.

She bowed her head a little then headed outside to the waiting car.

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#


	15. Chapter 15

This perception that men usually gain weight after living together with their partner is totally bullshit.  
I'm telling you, it's the women who gain weight first.  
I can vouch for that.  
 **Don't tell me you're thinking about trying a new fad diet.  
** Is it fad diet because everyone is doing it or  
Is it fad diet because it doesn't actually work?  
What if it actually works and everyone is doing it. Is it still categorized as fad?  
 **You're making my head hurt.  
Anyway how many times do I have to tell you.  
You don't need to do any diet! You are PERFECT!  
**See, that's what makes women gain weight, I think.  
It's complacency.  
You try asking your husband whether you look fat and see if he answers with 'yes, actually, I can see your roll of fat from here where I'm standing 25 meters away from you, and it looks like a pack of marshmallow swimming in a sea of milk and whipped cream.  
You think? Huh?  
Of course they would say: no, darling, you look perfect.  
.time.  
 **Are you telling me you're gaining weight only after a few weeks living with Yi Jeong?  
My advice will be to get a pregnancy test.  
**No! Stop being so gross!  
And I'm not living with him!  
 **So? And you kind of.  
** I need to reassert my stance on this living arrangement. I am so totally going back to my apartment once this shenanigan is over.  
 **You get distracted easily, don't you?  
** Not as bad as Jae Kyung, thank you very much.  
 **Anyway….. Are you telling me you're fat?  
** No I'm not. I'm just saying he shouldn't say I look perfect all the time because then when I really need to look perfect my standard would have stooped down so low I don't know how to recover.  
 **Oh My God, unbelievable. HUMBLE BRAG!  
** I know, right?  
 **NOT CUTE!**

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#

For someone who supposedly was living a high life and had been a constant fodder of gossip magazine, Yi Jeong surprisingly had spent a lot of time at home. Each morning he would drop her off at her office before he headed to the museum, or his other office, the head quarter for the So family business, that included a string of hotels and resorts that operated both in Korea and abroad, across Asia. According to Yi Jeong, they were in the process of expanding the brand to break into American and European soil as well.  
He would then call her just before he finish for the day to tell her to get ready to be picked up.

Dinner was usually spent at home, with wine and tea to finish the day.

She expressed her disbelief to him over the drive home.

'Are you telling me this is your daily routine? A nine to five schedule, then come back home straight away without checking out the latest club opening or whatever,' she said as he made a particularly fast turn at the corner and spilled her take away cappuccino a little. 'Heeeyyy, be careful please,' a few drops of the brown liquid had sadly landed on her precious white shirt dress.  
'Sorry,' he turned his head a little. 'No, I guess not. Not really my routine.'

She took a sip of her coffee and continued her line of questioning.  
'What is your daily routine then? Partying until 4am every day?'  
'Maybe 3am.' He winked at her, who rolled her eyes at his gesture. 'Kidding.'  
She shrugged her shoulders daintily. 'I'm not jealous or anything if that's what you're thinking right now. I'm merely curious.'

He snorted a little at that, which in theory should have made her a little annoyed but she graciously let it go.  
'Hmmm, I don't know, I guess I usually go to this particular bar once or twice a week with Woo Bin, they have nice selection of liquor. What else, hum, lots of business dinners, meeting potential business partners, boring stuff, to be honest. But aside from that, I really don't go out that much nowadays, though. Especially since Woo Bin got engaged and Jae Kyung seems to lock him in a cage or something.'

'Huh. Interesting.'  
She sipped her take away coffee rather absent mindedly.  
'Why? Do you think I still live the way I used to ten years ago? It's kids stuff, you know.'  
'Not really, no,' she hesitated. 'It's just that I don't like to be a nuisance, you know. You don't really have to baby sit me every night. I'll be fine by myself.'

He pretended to pout and reached for her hand.  
'I like babysitting though.'  
'Yeah, that's not what you said to Woo Bin….'  
'What? Damn that stupid arse. Did he tell her everything though?'  
'Oh, just the important ones,' she grinned at his scowling.  
'Well then he must have forgotten to tell Jae Kyung that I said, I was not content to _just_ do the babysitting. See the difference?'  
'Ugh, you're such a player.' She pulled back her hand from his grasp.  
Yi Jeong laughed at her pinched face and continued his drive home.

No sooner than their arrival home that he turned to her, eyes sparkling with mischief and suppressed excitement.  
'Hey, how about we go out clubbing tonight.'  
'Really?' she eyed him speculatively. 'Why?'  
'Just because.' He paused and grinned at her. 'I haven't gone clubbing for a long time and I heard there's this nice club called Blue Velvet…'

Ga Eul laughed at him. 'You know, that actually sounds pretty interesting,' she said. 'Although, I need to find some appropriate clothes to wear.'  
'What's wrong with this one? You look perfect.'  
'Really?' Ga Eul rolled her eyes to heaven. 'You were the one dressing me up on that one pretend date ten years ago. Have your standard slipped so low now?' she scratched the coffee stain on her shirt dress absentmindedly and walked to her room.  
'Oh I don't know,' he drawled behind her. 'I am quite happy taking them all off nowadays,' he caught her fist before it hit him hard on the chest. 'Shall we go in an hour?' he said smoothly, deftly turned her back to her room. 'There's this nice place to go for dinner, then we'll go to the club.' He then walked calmly to his own room, whistling as he did so.

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#

Ga Eul did not have the faintest idea of what Blue Velvet looked like. She was surprised to see it located in the quite affluent part of town. Her imagination had been running wild ever since Yi Jeong told her about that piece of information from Woo bin. In her mind, the club must have situated in a rather dingy area where lowlifes and gangster lookalike roamed free. However, the entrance at the front of the building looked decidedly posh. A dark glass door that opened automatically as they approached the building revealed a rather small lobby which led to the alleyway that took them to the main section inside.

Inside, as expected from the name, blue was the main color of choice. Neon blue, dark blue, light blue, indigo, you name it, they were bright and solid, and yet not overpowering. The clever use of lighting from the wall and ceiling helped making the room feel warm instead of dark and somber.

The club was separated into three main areas. The first one was the bar area where people mingled, queuing and ordering their drinks. Several bartenders were busy taking and making orders behind the bar, mixing various liquid from the bottles and served them in tall glasses for the customers.

The second part was the DJ booth and the dance floor, which already packed with people shaking and swaying their bodies to the music. They walked past a group of female patrons who looked like they had had their share of alcohol, judging from the way they started shrieking upon landing their eyes on Yi Jeong. For real, Ga Eul thought darkly.

The last part was the VIP lounge. To get here they had to climb a staircase and walked through a thick glass bridge draped in purple lighting. Yi Jeong had asked the concierge at the front desk to take them to this area. Being So Yi Jeong must have opened a lot of doors, Ga Eul mused as she followed him to the relatively quiet room compared to the one below.

There were several plush couches in the area, designed like a minimalist smoking room, With experienced eyes, Yi Jeong stirred Ga Eul toward the best seat where they could have uninterrupted view to the dance floor below and yet quite secluded to have an intimate conversation.

'Are you sure you haven't been here before?' she teased him after he ordered drinks to the waiter without even glancing at the menu.  
'It's the same everywhere anyway,' he shrugged and leaned back against the couch. 'Come here,' he patted the seat next to him and she obediently followed. This version of Yi Jeong was the one etched so deeply in her mind, it took her back ten years before. She looked at him in wonder.

'What are you thinking?' he said to her.  
'Oh nothing,' she paused. 'This is like a déjà vu, right?'  
'Please don't remind me,' his eyebrows furrowed as he laced his fingers with hers. 'I loathed my younger self.'

She smiled at that, because hopeless as she had been, she had loved his younger self.  
'You were pretty horrible,' she said, 'but not without merit.' Here she winked at him playfully as he rolled his eyes.

Stretching out a little, Yo Jeong looked around the room. The area where they were sitting now was quite dark, but they have excellence advantage at noticing other patrons in the vicinity. Not many people sitting in the room, most were busy engaging themselves downstairs.

Ga Eul was busy watching the dance floor, amazed at the ability of some people to move their body in tune and in sync with the music, when she felt Yi Jeong softly tugged her elbow.  
'Hmm?' she turned around to see his face, a small smile played on the corner of his lips.  
'Let's have a look at the glass display over there,' he tilted his head slightly at the corner of the room.  
'What?' she followed his gaze, her curiosity getting the better of her.

In the opposite wall, bath in a soft glow of light, was a mid size wooden cabinet, more like a slim high table top with a couple of drawers fitted in. True to form, it was following the same minimalist design with no carving or pattern embellished into the surface. The main function though, as a base for a simple glass display like one in a museum. However, it's not the furniture which has peaked Yi Jeong's interest. It was what was encased inside.

They left their seat together and huddled together in front of the display, clearly the focal point of the room.

'The style is definitely from mid fifteenth century,' he said to Ga Eul who peered curiously at the display.

Inside the glass case was a medium sized ceramic bowl in light grey shade, almost white. The decoration depicted a bird risen from ash in blue paint in one side. Chinese characters scattered around the bowl to make a perfect circle, starting and ending with the risen blue bird.

'Damn it, it's beautiful,' sighed Yi Jeong, a trace of disappointment in his voice. 'It really should belong in the museum.'  
'Yeah,' she agreed.  
'Look at the quality of craftsmanship,' Yi Jeong continued, his eyes hardly left the bowl. 'Even from here, without touching it you can see how smooth the surface is, and look at how beautiful the painting is.'

She nodded and ran her hand on his arm.

They stood there for a while before went back to sit at the couch. The crowd on the dance floor was getting rowdier with each song, they cheered as the well known beat started on the speaker.

'Hey,' Ga Eul said, nudging at Yi Jeong who seemed a bit lost in thought.  
'Hmm?'  
'Wanna dance?'  
He smiled at her, took a sip of his drink and started to stand up. Before they managed to leave, however, an older gentleman came over and waved a greeting at them.

'You must be So Yi Jeong,' he reached out to offer a handshake.  
'That's right,' Yi Jeong nodded and shook his hand. 'And you are..?'  
The older man introduced himself as the owner of the club. 'I saw you there earlier,' he pointed at the antique bowl. 'It's beautiful, isn't it?'

Yi Jeong was polite as he answered, yes, it is very beautiful, and if he doesn't mind sharing, how did he get hold on such fine pottery?

The owner mulled over his thought before starting his answer. 'I only started my collection, see. A few weeks ago, an agent offered me this lovely piece, which as you can see, is in a very good condition. I thought, well, why not. So I bought it, but the curious thing is, a message arrived with the pottery.' He paused and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. 'It said, So Yi Jeong the renowned potter and head of the So museum will one day come and see this display.' He looked at Yi Jeong carefully. 'That's why I put it here in the club, you know, purely out of curiosity. The message also says something like he won a point over you.'

A glance was all it took for Ga Eul to see that Yi Jeong was exercising a very good game in strength and restraint. He kept his expression neutrally blank as the owner kept on telling the story. 'I would, of course, move it back to my house,' the older man said. 'It's too much of a risk keeping it here.'

'That is very interesting,' Y Jeong offered after a few seconds passed. 'Do you, by any chance, know the name of the previous owner who sold it to you?'

The club owner sadly shook his head. 'No, everything was processed and done through the agent. I did, actually, ask about the seller. But he said it was done by correspondence and phone call.'  
Yi Jeong rubbed his chin thoughtfully. 'Oh well,' he said. 'That's a bit disappointing, isn't it? I would love to know why he needs to win one over me. I suppose, I can't always win, right?' he smiled his charming smile and shook hands before excusing himself and took Ga Eul's hand firmly in his and led her to the dance floor.

'You still wanna dance?' she whispered, half surprised, to him.  
'Not really.' He murmured to her hair.  
'We can go home now.'  
'No, stay here,' he pulled her closer, their bodies melding perfectly together, her soft curves to his hard surface. They moved like it's a slow dance even though the DJ played a fast EDM music on the sound system. 'Just, stay.'  
She sighed and tried to relax her tense shoulder. As the new music played she closed her eyes and rested her head on his chest.  
Around them the crowd half chanting the chorus to the song, their head moving up and down as the beat got faster and the music louder.

At the precise moment as the beat dropped, she felt her heart constricted, her stomach plummeted, and for the first time she felt terribly afraid, not for herself, but for the man whose strong hands splayed comfortably on her back and waist, holding her close.

'What are we doing, Yi Jeong Sunbae,' she said softly against his chest as they swayed despite the music.  
'What do you mean?'  
'This thing here now….' She trailed, trying to find the right words.  
'Don't worry about it.'  
'No, it's not that.'  
'What is it then?'  
'This thing between us…..'  
Yi Jeong looked down at her rather pale face; her eyes looked especially wide as she looked back at him. They stayed there not moving before he took her hand and led her outside.

The night was cool and rather windy, summer was almost over. They stood side by side outside the club, their backs to the wall, savoring the sudden chill and relative quiet as compared to the scene inside.

'What is bugging you, Ga Eul?'

Yi Jeong kept his hands in the pocket of his pants. He was not a regular smoker like Woo Bin, who had to have cigarette breaks a few times a day, but at that moment he was itching to have a puff of smoke. With a long sigh he leaned his head against the wall.

'Our relationship.'  
His eyebrows rose with her unexpected answer.  
'What about our relationship?'  
She bit her lip before answering.  
'Are you…. Are you serious about it?' she stole a quick glance at him. 'Or is it because we are trapped together in this situation? Once we quit playing detectives…..what will happen then?

He shifted from his position next to her, one shoulder still leaned on the wall but his body was facing her.

'Ga Eul,' he grabbed her forearm and gently forced her to change position as well. 'What do you think we are doing now? How do you think I feel about us?'  
'I…' she paused, 'I really don't know.' A sigh escaped her lips. 'It's just, it's just that… we were dancing there, inside, and..,,umm...and all of the sudden I felt so scared if ever something happened to you. The thing is, if this thing between us is not real, I'd rather we stop now. If I feel so afraid for you now, what will happen when….'

She didn't get to finish her sentence since Yi Jeong covered her lips with his. His mouth tender and strong, their breath hot and mingled, sweet and scented with alcohol.  
'I love you,' he said as they parted, one hand still firm on her elbow while the other found solace on the back of her head, tangled with her hair.

'What?'

He laughed softly at her reply.

'I love you,' he said again, his voice warm and full of smile. 'You baffle me, infuriate me, render me speechless and loose good night sleeps. But now that I have you, I can't imagine living without you,' he paused for a long seconds, 'that says a lot about my years of idiocy, doesn't it?'  
He let out a laugh as she snorted at his sentence.

Slowly he dipped his head again to recapture her mouth. He felt her smile against his lips.  
'I love you too,' her mouth moving soundlessly against his.  
Or perhaps that was his imagination.

But from the way she snaked her hands up his shoulder, rounded tightly against his neck, he was pretty sure about it.

It was love.

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	16. Chapter 16

**Meet the parents is wacky good stuff  
** Wtf it's like Robert de Niro's fall from grace  
 **It's like he decided that he's done enough serious stuff in the seventies and eighties and ready to party. Anyway, Gaylord Focker is genius.  
** I don't even know why we're still friends…  
Please tell me you, at least, like Empire Records.  
 **Shut up, stop pretending to be a cool kid of the nineties.  
You watched Jumanji and Toy Story back in '95, not Empire Records.  
And I happen to like all Ben Stiller movies.  
**Pffftttt….  
 **Anyway.  
When did you first take Woo Bin to meet your parents?  
**Errrrr…. I don't know, a few months into the relationship, maybe?  
Why do you ask?  
 **When did he first take you to meet his parents?  
** Hmm… a year afterward, take and give?  
 **Why is that?  
** Why is what?  
 **Why do girls introduce their boyfriends first before the boyfriends do?  
** I don't know… isn't it tradition?  
Is it because we need more assurance?  
IDK WHY DO YOU ASK  
Hang on, is it because they are mostly commitment phobic?  
Unsure monogamist?  
What.. why are you doing this to me…. Are you trying to instill my insecurity?  
 **Jeezzzz, and all I did was asking question.  
Innocent question.  
**Despite your pure angelic appearance, your questions are usually hardly innocent  
 **Have I told you the story where I once met YJ's father?  
** No.  
Why not, though.  
You told me everything.  
 **Well…  
** And why do you ask all of the sudden.  
 **Just wondering… anyway, GTG.  
** Hey!

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Ga Eul was blessed with level headed parents. Or as level headed as can be if you compared them to, say, Jan Di's parents' sometimes downright mind boggling life decision and general silliness. Or Jun Pyo's scary mother who could freeze the whole Ocean Park in summer time with only her icy cold stares. Or…..to Yi Jeong's parents for their, well, we all know what, why and how. But we'll get there later in the story.

Being an only child, Ga Eul always thought that she had been missing out on something growing up. She said so too, to her parents once, thinking that they were a little selfish not to grant her another baby brother or sister to play with. Sulky, as a precocious six years olds tend to do, when her father said they had no plan to add another family member to their little family. 'But you said I have to share my toys, Mom. I don't have anyone to share my toys with….' She remembered her childish outburst back then and the gentle eye rolls her mother had dealt her with.

As time gone by, she reluctantly accepted her mother's argument that financially, they were better off with their little family unit as it was, so they could send her to good school instead of just any school. That feeling of missing out on something tough, still nagged her until she met Jan Di and hit it off as best friends almost instantly. It was because of Jan Di that she started working at the porridge shop in high school. Her parents never asked her to help pay the bill, but she liked the notion of having her own money. So she worked hard and put her money away to help pay for the college tuition. Plus, it was fun to work together with her best friend.

As far as Ga Eul remembered, her parents never really pried into her personal life or romance. A few times, admittedly, when Yi Jeong was still in Sweden and she led a kind of celibate life, her mother lightly touched the subject.

 _Don't you have a guy in your life? Isn't college life the right time to build young romance? Who or what is it really that you are waiting for, Ga Eul? You're having a secret boyfriend, aren't you?_

She waved off her mother's probing good-naturedly, obviously, but not really telling her the story. It was only after her mom sat her up one night and said, with heavy heart obviously, was there anything she didn't tell her, anything at all about her? It was OK, she said, she's still her daughter. Ga Eul sat there on her bed not understanding.

 _I am serious, Ga Eul_ , her mom continued, _it's all OK by me. We will have to tell your father, though_ …. It was then, after recovering from her dumbstruck expression at what her mom had been hinting on, that she told her about waiting for someone who was overseas at that moment and the promise he had made about seeing her after he came back to Seoul (she was careful not to say his name). They laughed about it afterward, even joking about it sometimes.

No, she could always depend on her parents to not make a scene, even at that one time when Jun Pyo's mom was out for blood over Jan Di and Jun Pyo's relationship. Her dad, then, was working for a company belonged to Shinhwa's business partner. Frankly, that episode only resolved her dad's decision to move from a big city and opened his own small business some years later down the road. Such sensible parents, which was why she was quite surprised to get a call from her Mom one day at the office.

'What is this about you moving in with that So Yi Jeong fellow?' she asked her curtly over the phone.  
'Ummm, what?' her desk was a clutter of mess and she was trying to find a functioning pen to write down some points for a meeting later that afternoon.  
'Is he the same one you pined over back in college? You never told me it was So Yi Jeong the playboy.'  
'Huh? Mom, what are you talking about?'  
'Are you telling me that none of this is true?'  
'What is not true?' Ga Eul knew she was stalling, but right now her brain seemed to stop working and stalled as she frantically recalled about everything she told her mother way back when.

'Don't act stupid missy,' she flinched at the tone her mother adopted. 'I read it just this morning on the magazine, that you are dating that handsome playboy.'  
'You think he's handsome?' she brightened her tone, trying to lighten the mood, but slumped instantly as her mom started ranting about how she should have known better, and really, moving in together so fast? What was she thinking about?

'Mom,' she shut her off desperately. 'Look, I know he does not look good on paper, but they write a lot of not quite true stuff about him. You know that right?'  
'And yet you decide to work on the a magazine,' her mother's tone was dry, but she could work with it.  
'Well, it's different. You know that Mom.'

She sensed her mother hesitated for a while, but it was a small relief.

'Are you telling me the pictures that I get this morning are also wrong?'  
'What? What picture?' she tried to wrap her head over her mother's sentence.  
'The pictures of you leaving together from his house, day after day. I got about five different pictures of you'  
'Where did you get those pictures from?'  
'From the mail, of course.' Her mother's voice telling her she must be daft for even voicing the question. How else so people get their mail, a stork? Owl?

She groaned a desperate groan. Tiredly she closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead, trying to make the frown and worry lines there disappear with no avail.

'We have, well, we have some problem at the moment. I promise it's only temporary. But mom, you have to believe me, I am taking this relationship slowly.'  
'Ah, so you _are_ in a relationship with him.'  
'Mom!'  
'I'm just concerned, darling,' her mother sighed for a long time, 'I read those gossip magazines too sometimes, you know, to pass the time. Frankly, I don't think he's a good choice, despite his look and wealth.' A long pause there. 'Anyway, what is this problem you're talking about?'

'Well….,' she bit her lower lips nervously. Should she tell her parents? Would it make them worry over her? In the end she decided to gloss over the whole incident and instead telling her not to worry, she'd be back at her own apartment in no time at all. And yes, yes, she would take Yi Jeong to see her parents soon.

She put back the phone with a sigh of relief and slumped on her messy desk. Swiftly she pushed aside the papers and what not in front of her, the cool wooden surface felt heavenly on her forehead. After a minute of silence she stretched out, glad to hear that satisfying crack from her joints. She must have the worst fortune this year, she mused, she really has to visit one of those fortune teller stall next time she see one. How much worse is this going to be?

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They had dinner at Jan Di and Jun Pyo's residence that night, all six of them which was a rare occasion since their schedules were rarely matched. 'All we need is Ji Hoo here to make this complete,' observed Jun Pyo the Mr. Obvious, his curly hair still embarrassingly the most prominent feature even after ten years passed from their high school days.

'When is he coming back?' Jae Kyung piped up from her conversation with Jan Di. They were deep in discussion about some upcoming fund raising gala ran in upper society circle which Ga Eul didn't really understand and couldn't care less for not knowing about. Jan Di was always moaning about how she hated being thrust into such circle where she didn't have anyone to talk to who had roughly the same idea about such a thing as she did. Frankly, Ga Eul thought, Jan Di should have accepted it by now, years after being married to Jun Pyo. It was just what was expected of her.

She told Jan Di as much a long time ago, but Jan Di countered yes, of course, she had accepted her fate, but that didn't mean she had to stop bitching about it to her friends.

Jae Kyung, of course, only laughed whenever this thing happened.

'In time for your wedding, whenever that might be,' Jun Pyo paused to sip his wine, 'that's what he said last time.'  
'Well that's stupid,' all eyes turned to Jae Kyung whose eyebrows turned into a tight knit. 'What if I decided to have my wedding tomorrow?'  
'Then he'll be here tomorrow,' Jun Pyo shrugged his shoulders easily. 'It's that easy. Plus, it's not going to be tomorrow, monkey girl. I know for a fact, as my darling wife informed me last night, that you girls are going to go for a wild hen's party to Bali before your wedding. Whenever that might be. And you're still here now. So….' He calmly ate another piece of steak from his plate and smiled beatifically at Jae Kyung who jutted her lower lip at his tone.

'Yes, well, I think he should come back here quickly,' Woo Bin nodded at his fiancé. 'He's missing all the fun. Isn't he, Yi Jeong?'  
'Hmmm.'  
'Or are you afraid he's going to snatched Ga Eul from under your nose, like he almost did last…..' he trailed and grinned as his friends all glared at the same time at him. 'What?' he shrugged and grabbed his drink. 'To spice things up, you know.'  
'Shut up, Woo Bin Sunbae,' Jan Di narrowed her eyes. 'It's all water under the bridge.'

Jun Pyo looked at his wife like she was sprouting nonsense.  
''What bridge?' he said confused. 'Which water? Of course there will be water under the bridge. Else it's just a ditch….'  
Jae Kyung snorted. 'There's a reason why we would never work, darling,' she laughed before helped herself for another heaping pile of bean salad.

The conversation resumed, with the boys mostly talked about their soccer team. Meanwhile Ga Eul was still thinking about the phone call from her mother earlier.

'You're awfully quiet, Ga Eul,' Woo Bin glanced at her as Jun Pyo as usual launched himself into a monologue about the merit of FIFA and its corruption for South Korea Soccer team. I mean, come on, everyone would want to talk about something else, right?  
'Am I?' Ga Eul replied, a bit distracted, which earned her Woo Bin's warm smile.  
'Don't tell me you're thinking about that hen party already…'  
'No!' she felt her cheek warmed. 'Oh maybe a little bit,' she cheekily added. The cheeriness only lasted a few seconds though before her pinched expression came back in full force.  
'Now, I know you're not telling the truth. Come on, tell us all about it.'

Under Woo Bin's gentle persuasion she took a long deep sigh and recounted what was said over her phone conversations with her mother. 'I mean, who sent those pictures to her? It just doesn't sit right however I see it,' she ended her story. The room had fallen into silence as other conversations stopped once she started talking.

'It is disconcerting,' Jan Di nodded.

'Yeah,' she sighed. 'Anyway, my mom wants me to take you and meet the family,' her eyes focused at Yi Jeong. 'I told her we are a little preoccupied at the moment but will do so soon. What else can I say?' she shrugged her delicate shoulder as Yi Jeong rubbed her lower back with his warm hand.

'Have you met Yi Jeong's parents?' Jun Pyo asked her curiously. 'I need to know if they are as accepting as my mom toward my darling wife,' he smirked as Jan Di's face suddenly turned green.

'Well…..' Ga Eul glanced at Yi Jeong's face. His expression was carefully blank. 'I met your dad a long time ago….' She stopped and looked around. 'I'm sure he doesn't remember, though.'

A snort escaped Yi Jeong's lips. 'Oh he remembers all right,' he said. 'Don't worry Ga Eul. He likes you. He thought I was an idiot then. That was the first time he was right about something.' He forced a smile and poured some more wine into his empty glass. 'No one is more accepting than your mom, though, Jun Pyo,' he raised his glass and laughed as everyone followed suit.

That is, everyone except Woo Bin.

He sat stock still in his seat, eyes vacant like his thought was hundreds of miles away from here. His expression was serious with forehead frowning and eyebrows knitted tightly together. Jun Pyo waved a hand in front of his face.

'Hey Bro?'  
'Hmmm?'  
'Hey.' Yi jeong nudged his best friend.  
'What? Oh, sorry, what was that again?' He spluttered, coming back into life. 'I just had an idea. Sorry. I can't believe how I missed that. So stupid,' he kept muttering.  
'What is it?'

Woo Bin raised his face and slowly turned his head, pointedly looking at everyone at the table. 'I'm a genius Sherlock Holmes, ladies and gentlemen,' he said regally, 'I really am. Don't ask me anything else until I think this through, though.' He grinned widely and grabbed his glass, 'come on, make a toast. To me!'

Ga Eul looked at Jae Kyung, who shrugged but nonetheless raised her wine glass.

'To us!'

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Note: I can feel the story nearing the end, yes?  
Should be a few more chapters left...


	17. Chapter 17

Have you written that speech?  
 **What speech.  
** Oh no no no, you don't get to play that with me, missy.  
 **Damn it. Well, no I haven't….  
** It's not writing itself, you know  
 **Your wedding is not until October though. I still have plenty of time.  
** Run it through me first please  
 **No way! That defeats the purpose  
** Do not try to embarrass me!  
 **Look, if there's one thing I know, it is that** ** _nothing_** **ever embarrasses you.  
And I mean NOTHING! With a capital N-O-T-H-I-N-G.  
**Jun Pyo's ditching me that one time kind of embarrassed me a little.  
 **Well, I don't know about you, but count your blessing, honey.  
Imagine having to deal with his mom for the rest of your life.  
Shudder.  
**You're right.  
I might have called it quit halfway and ran away and joined an African tribe or something.  
Make it funny then.  
 **As if.  
Ask Jun Pyo if you want a funny speech**  
Now you're mistaking funny for embarrassing.  
How he manages to avoid being a social pariah for so long is truly inspiring.  
Btw what's up with my fiancé and your boyfriend?  
Going around being secretive and shite.  
I want to smack them silly for acting stupid like…like IDK like some sort of detectives in a b-grade drama.  
 **And here I thought his acting manly and tough would turn you on**.  
Only in the bedroom, darling.  
 **Eewww….**

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'How is the series going?'

Ga Eul raised her head from her scribbles on the notebook she kept open on the meeting table in front of her. She was sitting in her chief editor's office, running through her progress on the three part series of the upcoming artists and the galleries who supported them.

The room was small but tidy, with minimal decoration adorning the white wall. Hardly a personal touch could be found in her boss' office. It was almost as if she didn't have anything interesting outside the work life, which of course, couldn't have been true. Her boss, whom she sometimes jokingly called Bosslady, was one of the most interesting personalities she had ever met. How else would you describe someone who once took it upon herself to run a marathon in a Wonder Woman costume just to complete a bet and wrote the experience down for the magazine. As hard as she made everyone work in the office, she worked herself even harder, and that ranked highly in Ga Eul's opinion.

'It's coming together nicely,' she jotted down some more points on the paper. 'The first installment is finished. I am almost 80 percent with the second one. Actually, I am meeting someone from this new gallery tomorrow. I will send his contact to you. He should be the last one, I think, since I have enough material already to complete the series.'

'That's good.' Jung So-In watched her junior editor in careful observation. 'How are you holding up at home?'  
'What do you mean?'  
'Last time you had that maniac coming after you. Are you OK now? You're still staying with So Yi Jeong?'  
For a lot of reason Ga Eul felt nothing but deep thanks to her boss' choice of words. She nodded and smiled at her.

'Everything is fine,' she said, but after a moment pause added, 'so far.'  
'That's good.' Her boss looked a bit distracted. 'Is it serious? Between you and So Yi-Jeong, I mean?' she absentmindedly rolled the golden color pen in her hand.  
A bit surprised at the question, Ga Eul looked at her questioningly.  
'I'm not prying,' her boss reassured her. 'Do you know that my family used to be quite close to the So clan? Not so much anymore, obviously.'

Any mention of Yi Jeong at the office usually sent Ga Eul into hypersensitive mode and perpetual bad mood, but this bit of information from her boss only managed to raise her curiosity.

'Yup,' Jung So-In met her gaze, 'I came from a long line of pottery artist, you know. Well, at least up until my great grandfather. My grandfather chose to rebel though, working for the media, followed by my father, and then myself.' She paused. 'I guess it's safe to say the relationship started to unravel around that period of time. They despised the media.'

Watching Ga Eul's surprised expression, she laughed heartily. 'I know, I know. It's stupid, right?' Her eyes glinted mischievously, 'I think it's due to their propensity to end up in the gossip column. The lots of them were playboys, you know.' She shrugged, 'Anyway, I personally think it's hypocrisy. They still come to us when they need something from the media. All of them do.'

Chewing this bit of information, Ga Eul's mind wandered briefly. She wasn't paying attention when the object of their conversation slightly shifted.

'Ga Eul?'  
'Yes?' she shook her head and focused her attention back to So-In.  
'I said, how is it?'  
'What is what?'  
'Your relationship with Yi jeong.'  
'Oh, it's OK, I guess….' She trailed a little. 'It's too early to tell, really. Why?'  
'Just wondering.' A minute trickled down slowly as So-In regarded her junior carefully.  
'You know the family is still very conservative, right?'  
'What do you mean?'

'I mean they are still very much living in nineteenth century when it comes to allowing their women to work. No, I'm serious, up until her marriage to So Hyun-Sub, Yi Jeong's mother was working for her family's finance company. She gave up her career pretty much straight after the wedding since her husband's family preferred her to stay in the back ground like a traditional Korean wife.' She stood up and walked to the water dispenser at the corner of the room, filling her empty glass with the cold water before she came back to the meeting table. 'That, we think, and So Hyun-Sub infidelity, of course, that kind of broke her spirit.' She sighed and watched Ga Eul surprised expression. 'Oh, don't give me that look. It's almost public knowledge. The only reason why very little if not at all made into newspaper is because the So family was, still is very influential. So Hyun-Sub's wandering way is very much well known. But talking about his family is out of the question.'

Ga Eul wondered, not for the first time, what kind of childhood did Yi Jeong grow up in? It did not sound very appealing to her at all.

'Anyway, what I'm saying is,' So-In continued her story, 'you should probably make it clear about what you want from him before making a bigger commitment. I mean, it's probably nothing, you know. After all, this is twenty first century and he had spent a lot of years abroad. That should count for some improvement in anyone's world view, right?'

'I suppose,' Ga Eul mumbled. So many things she didn't know about the man she called her boyfriend, so many layers she needed to peel to get into Yi Jeong. After a few more getting back and forth about the series of articles she's writing, she gathered her notebook and pens and took her leave from her boss' office with the promise to conduct the last interview the day after.

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There's a vast difference between watching a detective show on TV and actually sitting through an investigation. You can watch an hour long episode on TV depicting a police squad, or a private detective uncover a case in just a matter of days. Sometimes, they even have the perpetrator thrown to jail in a matter of a few appearances in courts, with the jury always seem to agree on one vote.

And yet. And yet, it had been, what, weeks since the murder occurred, and it was only now that Woo Bin claimed how he thought he had some breakthrough on the case. A breakthrough he said he was reluctant to share with the police because it would probably affect some social aspect of the So clan and that was why he needed to talk him through his findings before calling for some official help.

They were sitting in Woo Bin's office, shifting through some papers Woo Bin's people had given them. He termed all of them classified. Yi Jeong could see why it was probably not very good idea to share the information with outside world. Let alone had his girlfriend, who worked for the media, seen the pages in front of him.

'The way I see it,' Woo Bin started, 'we have been approaching this case from the wrong angle the whole time.' He lighted a cigarette and offered one to Yi Jeong who hastily accepted. He had been itching for one since he got a call from Woo Bin that very morning. A busy day at the museum made him delay his meeting with the mafia prince to late in the afternoon. After following his friend in lighting his cigarette, he took a long drag and filled up his lung with the addicting chemicals before breathed them out again.

'Remember you said that you couldn't think of any incident involving yourself which merit this kind of revenge? And I thought, well, that's probably only your opinion. And so I did some research on that. But as you said, I couldn't find any lead. And that is strange. Obviously, someone, somewhere, wants to cause you harm. Or wants to Ga Eul harm, which in turn will come back to you.'

Yi Jeong shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He didn't like where this was going.

'Well, remember last time we had dinner at Jun Pyo's place and Ga Eul was talking about her parents?' Woo Bin blew a smoke ring to the air and glanced at him.  
'I guess…. I don't really see what this have to do with her parents…..'  
'No, of course not. But it made me think, you know. I thought, well, what if this case started with your parents….' He trailed as Yi jeong sharply raised his head. 'Well, you know your father…'  
'Hmmm…'  
'Anyway, so I asked my people (trusted associates, don't worry about it), to look at your father's affair in the past three years.' He paused. 'That is given the fact that these incidents only really started recently, you know. It's, how should I say it… it has been enlightening.'

Yi Jeong cursed under his breath.

'Here,' Woo Bin reached for a separate pile of folders from his desk. 'I've been reading all the reports these past couple of days and these two caught my interest. You will see why.' He handed Yi Jeong the first folder from the pile.

'Look, I know, you have a difficult relationship with your father and I understand this won't be easy for you. But I think it's easier to hear from me than from anyone else.

This one. About four years ago, your father had a relationship with a mistress of quite a powerful business man. I think he didn't know that the woman was attached to someone. They broke up after some time. Anyway, the business man found out about this and he tried to end his relationship with his mistress. She, however, was a little miffed since she knew that he had quite a few mistresses other than her as well, and decided to do a little revenge by sending all the photographs of his various mistresses to his wife.'

Yi Jeong scrunched his nose as Woo Bin shook his head in distaste.

'Yeah, I know, I know. Anyway, it wouldn't be too bad if his wife had not been the original heiress of the company and was still the biggest shareholder. And so, you can imagine how that ended up.' He read his notes. 'They split up, and in the process they split the company as well, and he lost custody of his children. Looking at his latest business ventures, I'd say he does a lot of shady deals with his new company.'

'Damn.' Yi Jeong rubbed his chin.

'Yeah. That just goes to show, you know, your biggest enemy is probably the one you sleep with.' Woo Bin looked up to see his friend narrowing his eyes at him. 'Not Ga Eul, obviously, Jeez.'  
He crushed his cigarette and reached for his cup of coffee. 'This stuff here makes me thirsty,' he said before proceed to finish his drink in one go.

'The second one here,' another folder was handed to Yi Jeong, 'is frankly depressing.'  
The folder was pretty thick, Yi Jeong noted, as he took it from Woo Bin's hand.

'The thing about these cases though, is that it's probably something that wouldn't even register in your father's journal, if he had any. They are the same as any other relationship he had before. It's what happened afterworld, after he left, that left a devastating trail.'

Yi Jeong opened the plain looking black folder in his hand curiously. Quickly his eyes scanned the first page, eyebrows knotted tightly as his mouth formed a straight line.

'Yeah, like I said, depressing.' Woo Bin commented. 'This happen a couple of years ago. Your father met this girl in a club, you know the drill. He didn't know though, that she's the youngest child, the only daughter of a crime lord. Only he doesn't front himself as a crime lord, you know. He has a shipping business or something, but we know what goes behind the screen.

Anyway, she's only 20 at the time.'

Again, Yi Jeong threw another curse under his breath.

'Yeah, like I said, depressing. Anyway, he broke up with her after a few months. The thing is, she actually fell in love with him. Like, seriously in love with him. I mean, don't ask me why, people have horrendous taste.' He shrugged as Yi Jeong gave him a finger.

'And when he broke up with her, it hit her hard. Now, she was diagnosed as manic depressive a few years before that and this thing basically opened a whole can of worms. She tried to commit suicide, but luckily she was found before it was too late.' Woo Bin drew a long sigh. 'She spent a month in an induced coma, and has been living in an institution for the past two years. '

Yi Jeong looked at a picture of a young girl smiling at the camera. She looked younger than her supposed age of twenty, with bright smile and shiny eyes. She was wearing preppy clothes like a college student. In fact, not that much different from how Ga Eul dressed.

Behind that picture was a more recent one of her. She looked emaciated, with too large eyes in her skinny face. Gone were the smile and the shiny eyes.

'To be fair, though,' Woo Bin said, 'none of this ever made it to your dad's knowledge. I mean, he probably thinks that this was just one of his long lists of conquest.'

The cigarette on Yi Jeong's hand had long been forgotten.

'Shit,' he threw the folder on the table and sat back in his chair; his head throbbing as he closed his eyes. 'Fucking shit.'

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	18. Chapter 18

(1)

Morning, Bosslady.  
Won't be in the office until sometime after lunch today, I am going straight to the interview.  
I have sent the contact number and address of the gallery to your email address. **  
OK**. **Thanks.**

(2)

Morning sunshine!  
Don't forget we have lunch at the usual place today  
Call me when you finished with your morning chore. **  
Shut up. It's called work. Might be a little late.  
** Woo Bin might join us though.  
 **No probs**.

(3)

Wanna join lunch with the girls?  
 **Why not..  
** About one-ish at that horrible coffee place near Jae Kyung's office.  
 **Their 'fried rice' is made of cauliflower.  
** Don't ask. Something to do with healthy organic paleo food or something… whatever that means.  
 **They had coffee in paleo era?  
** Shut it Einstein, just get your ass there at one.

(4)

Your husband has decided to take a break of his busy life and takes you to lunch.  
 **Does he now? Well too bad because your wife has already made plan to see her friends for lunch.  
** Oh come on! When did the last time we had spontaneous lunch date just the two of us.  
 **Oops, sorry. But I really have promised Jae Kyung to join her and Woo Bin.  
Why don't you pick me up and we'll go together.  
**Where's the meeting place?  
 **That trendy paleo café near Jae's office.  
** What's so trendy about paleo? Isn't that the disease you have to give babies vaccine against?  
 **Oh dear….. Just pick me up at 12.30.**

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#

The short hand of her watch had struck eight exactly by the time Ga Eul asked her driver to drop her off at a park not too far from the meeting place. She had left Yi Jeong's house a bit too early and as a result there's still an hour to kill before the interview was due. Her last one before finishing the project and she could move on to another one. She was rather excited since the next planned project was about adventure travel and the art of back packing, her preferred holiday style.

With a quick sweep with her eyes, she decided to go to a little coffee joint not far from where she was standing. It was a rather cute little place, perched at the corner of the park with white paint, light blue door and large window frames. A couple of outdoor seating place were in place for those who liked to have their coffee while looking at the green lawn and delicate flowers surrounding the place. Feeling better already, she inhaled the fresh morning air. A cup of cappuccino in the morning usually eased her gently to the busy day ahead. She wondered how she had survived all those years where her morning routine did not include a steaming cup full of caffeine goodness.

Walking slowly, she thought about Yi Jeong and his rather subdue demeanor since he came home last night. For a reason she couldn't think of, Yi Jeong had been a little off-kilter, not quite his usual self who seemed to always ooze confidence and pride wherever he went. Their conversation during dinner time was somewhere between half hearted and forced. It was as if he had had some niggling thoughts in his head.

With a sigh, she opened the blue door and started to the counter where a young looking girl greeted her with a smile. She looked like a high school student, although judging by the hour and the fact that summer holidays was over already, it was probably not the case.

Nodding politely she placed in her order, deciding at the last minute that she would also like to have a piece of scrumptious looking chocolate covered Madeleine with her drink, and paid quickly before walking to the table closest to the window and waited for her order to arrive.

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#

Red velvet or rainbow cake?  
 **Red velvet  
** Chocolate mousse or tiramisu?  
 **Uuugghhh hard one. Tiramisu.  
** Guacamole or avocado smoothie  
 **Yikes. None.  
** WHY!  
 **Ugh. Green and disgusting?  
** OMG BLASPHEMOUS.  
 **They look like thrown up baby food.  
** You are SO wrong!  
They are a slice (a dollop? a sip? a gulp?) of heaven.  
 **But I judge a book by its cover.  
** SMH.  
Speaking of judging a book. That Mr. Bodybuilder villain? He's an art dealer. Now what do say to that, Ms. Stereotype?  
 **How do you know?  
** I'm meeting him for my interview. Didn't I tell you?  
 **You most certainly did not. He's an exception to the norm, then.  
** *rolls eyes*  
 **I thought you're doing the interview this morning? Why are you still texting me.  
** In 30 minutes. Anyways. See you guys at lunch.  
 **Don't be late. JanDi says Jun Pyo's coming as well. And fiancée also says your BF's going to join.  
** K.

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#

The first thing Yeong did when he came to the office that morning was calling his father. He had retired from his position as the director of the museum a few years earlier when Yi Jeong took over and left Seoul altogether, opting to live a quieter life in the country. That life, obviously, was not as quiet as Yi Jeong had imagined it to be. Fucking bastard, he silently cursed as he picked up the phone that morning. To say that his relationship with his father had greatly improved would be a step too far, but he did manage to build a few small bridges over the years.

He didn't have to wait long before his father answered, voice all surprised from the sudden call. Does he want to talk to his mom, his father asked. To which Yi Jeong said it's probably better if his mom remained unaware of any conversation at all.

What followed was a terse exchange, an alternating shift between hot and cold in matter of seconds. Yi Jeong had stayed almost awake the whole night, thinking about the best way to approach his father. The years of sudden impulse, action first and think second, had long gone. He's a more calculated man nowadays.

 _What is this all about_ , his father asked when he started asking questions about the girls Woo Bin mentioned the day before. Yi jeong's mind whirled, he paused to think as the silence on the other end grew decidedly more uncomfortable. After a long sigh he started from the very beginning, all the way to the latest revelation.

'Are you still there?' he asked when it was over. 'Dad? Are you still there?'

It was seconds later when his father finally answered, his usually confident voice hoarse, almost like a faint whisper. 'What… that's….But I… No, that cannot be….' Shocked. Appalled. Horrified.

But his denial was filled with unspoken guilt; he could almost hear it dripping thickly like poured maple syrup on a stack of pancake. Thick and messy.

'You're still there? Dad? Hello?'

But there were no more words in response to answer him. He was still sitting straight in his office holding his mobile when the line cut off with a resounding click from the other end.

His father had ended the call, and it was confession enough for him.

'For fuck sake, Dad', he mumbled tiredly as he sank in his chair.

He's not going to let this go easily. Not this time. _Fuck him_ , he rested his elbow on the arm rest and rubbed his temple in circular motion, willing the burgeoning headache to settle down. He would have to talk to Ga Eul about this and he's afraid to see her reaction to the news. What would she have thought about his fucked up family? Not that it was such a shining pillar of peace and harmony in the first place.

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#

(1)

What time will your interview be finished?  
Do you want me to pick you up from the gallery?  
I'm joining you guys for lunch.

(2)

Sorry, slight change of plan, I have sudden meeting, probably a bit late.  
I'll send Driver Jung to pick you up. Call him when you're ready please. I'll go straight to the café.

(3)

They have that lava cake today!  
Do you want me to ask them to set one aside for you? It's pretty busy today.  
What time will you finished? Yi Jeong says he couldn't get in touch.

(4)

 **"Hi you reach Chu Ga Eul's number. Please leave a message."  
** "Hi honey. Can you give me a call please? I've been trying to call you but they all go to the message bank. Driver Jung said he didn't get any call from you ever since he dropped you at the park, are you still at the gallery? "

(5)

Hun, are you OK?  
Been trying to call you but no answer.  
Everyone's here already. Where are you?

(6)

 **"The number you are calling is not available please try again later."**

(7)

 **"The number you are calling is not available please try again later."**

(8)

 **"The number you are calling is not active of out of coverage area. Please try again later."**

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	19. Chapter 19

Ga Eul woke up feeling slightly dizzy and disoriented. There was that mild pounding sensation on the back of her head she recognized from being slightly dehydrated, a self diagnose strengthen by how her throat felt parched and she really wanted to have a glass of ice cold water with Panadol as she cracked her eyes open. It's rubbish though, she couldn't see anything even if she had opened her eyes a bit wider and strained to see a little harder. The room she was in was dark, and she couldn't be sure whether it was because the room had no window to the outside world or it was simply night time. Her cheek felt cold pressed on the hard floor for God knew how long.

Oh shit, she groaned. Why did she fall asleep on the floor in the first place? It just wasn't at all like her. She preferred to always sleep on a bed, at least a mattress or a couch, not on the hard floor like this. What is she, a savage or something? Where was she anyway? Very slowly she pushed herself from the floor, feeling her whole body stiff, a telling sign that she had been in the same position for quite a period of time already, although nothing seemed to hurt or broken. Still feeling woozy, she stretched out her arms and neck, feeling a little better as they gave a satisfying creak sound. It's a bad habit but it did make her feel better.

Starting to become fully awake, she forced herself to sit straight and looked around for the door. There had to be a door somewhere, she casted her eyes on the floor carefully, for she had no idea how big a room she was currently in. she almost leapt for joy when she finally saw a pale line on the floor, indicating there's some kind of light just outside that wall. Trying to ignore the pounding on her head, she pushed off from the floor and walked carefully toward the door, not wanting to trip on any furniture, if there had been any at all.

It was a clear runway all the way to the door, she quite easily found the handle but instantly let a desperate sigh when it didn't give even a slight budge as she turned the handle and pushed. Fuck it, she almost cried. Why would anyone lock her here in the first place?  
'Hello?' She called loudly. 'Hey!' she slammed her hand on the door angrily. 'Is anybody out there?'  
Fuck! She hissed when there's no reply from outside. Fucketyfucketyfucketyfuck!

Depressed, she leaned heavily against the door and let gravity took over. Slowly she slid down along the door and slumped on the floor, sitting on the cold hard tile once again. She closed her eyes and pressed her head against the heavy door, wishing she had her mobile phone on hand. As it was, she could hardly locate her purse where her phone was safely tucked in. If only she knew what had happened...

She furrowed her brow as her fingers softly massaging her temples and rewound her thoughts back to this morning. If only she could find a light switch, her sigh loud in the dark. Damn it, she hated being helpless in the dark like this.

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#

What's the use of mobile phone if you're not going to answer the call, or reply text messages? Seriously. Jae Kyung looked at her screen with disgust. She was starting to get restless when Ga Eul failed to acknowledge any of her text messages. As usual she had been sending silly pranks and messages that she knew would go straight to the message bank but not before making Ga Eul's phone vibrate for a few seconds during the interview. However, no angry replies came back from her. Her usual 'Shut up, Jae Kyung, I'm working now' had been sadly absent. She said so when Woo Bin came to her office just before lunch time.

'Stop harassing her,' was his comment as he walked with her to the elevator. 'I don't know why she hasn't put you on her blocked number list yet.'

The café was located just next door to her office building. It's a trendy place with minimalist décor serving the latest paleo fad. To be quite honest, she didn't care about the diet. It's just the fact that they served good coffee and had to die for flourless chocolate torte with raspberry sauce. Today the place seemed to be bustling with people. She frown a little, worried that they might have to wait for a table to clear.

Her concern, however, was unfounded since an eager hand waved at them as they entered the place. Jan Di and Jun Pyo had arrived early, citing unusual empty traffic (and the fact that Jun Pyo was one manic driver) that made them cover 10 km in five seconds or something.  
'You guys have ordered?' she asked as Jan Di gave the affirmative.  
She perused the menu as Jun Pyo lamented about what the fuck was wrong with this restaurant. 'They substitute rice with cauliflower, are they fucking crazy?' he hissed loudly.

Jae Kyung threw a helpless smile at the waitress who hovered next to their table, clearly listening to Jun Pyo's cauliflower rage. Next to him Jan Di chuckled gleefully, clearly enjoying her husband's misery.  
'He thinks paleo is a disease,' she whispered conspiratorially to Jae Kyung who then couldn't help but giggle with her.  
'He's not that far off,' she replied evenly, eyes still fixed on the menu. Aside from the flourless chocolate torte, the best thing about this café was that it changed its lunch menu every month or so and she liked finding and trying new things. 'I eat whatever I want.'  
'Yeah. So how come that doesn't show up?' Jan Di pouted with envy. 'I swear I ate nothing but fish and salad and still gain a kilo last week.'  
'That's fish and chips for you, with potato salad and extra mayo. Sometimes with crisps on the side.' Jun Pyo snickered even as his wife glared at him.

'What do you think about themed wedding?' she said after the waitress took their order (lovely grilled snapper with Zuchinni and fennel seeds for her and pork ribs for Woo Bin).  
'Themed wedding?'  
'Like Titanic wedding, I don't know, walking dead wedding. It will be fun, right?'  
Woo Bin and Jun Pyo snorted. 'She's been surfing the internet again,' Woo Bin dryly commented. 'Stop messing with your wedding planner, babe. Next thing you know, she's plotting revenge against us.'

'She's seriously no fun,' Jae Kyung pouted. 'I only mentioned about changing the venue again last week and she almost went mental on me. It's not like I'm going to move the wedding to Australian Outback or the North Pole or something. Although come to think of it, those white expanse with polar bear and….' She trailed at the looks her friends gave her.  
'OK, OK, I won't change anything.' She paused. 'Where's Ga Eul? She didn't mention about going to be late. Did she contact you?'  
Jan Di shook her head.  
'Strange,' she took her mobile out and sent another text. 'It's not like her at all.'

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#

The light switch was located by the door.

Once she overcame her initial depression, Ga Eul was able to use her brain. Following logic, she decided to inspect the wall closest to the door handle. She almost cried for joy when her hand touched that magic switch and light came harshly but not unwelcome on her eyes.

She blinked several times, feeling better each time before she let her eyes wander and she turned her head in a kind of 180 each way to see what kind of a room she's in.

It was not a large room, but large enough that it had a double size mattress on the floor at one corner of the room and a crappy coffee table and one cheap looking couch in vomit-green velour at the other side and did not feel at all cramped.

She grumbled at the thought that there was mattress on the floor and yet she woke up with cheek on the floor. Freaking criminals. If only she could send a text to Jae Kyung about this unjust treatment. She looked around; searching for her blue carry-all tote she had this morning. But of course it was nowhere to be found, and that made her burst of hope died a hasty death once more. At least they could have left her with her book, she thought crossly. She had packed a well thumbed Nicholas Spark in her bag, not necessarily the best companion in kidnapping case but at least she would have something to do. Next time she'd pack The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook, she thought bitterly, she was pretty sure there's a section about breaking a door or something.

Suddenly feeling tired, she walked toward the ugly looking couch, hesitated a little before dumping herself rather ungracefully onto the surface. Despite the color and her hopelessness, it still felt a lot better than lying on the floor. She didn't want to even think about lying on the naked mattress, thinking about nasty stuff it might had.

A little inspection underneath the coffee table brought her new treasure. A couple bottles of mineral water and one pack of Kit Kat. Seriously, she snorted, Kit Kat? At the very least they could give her the green tea one.

The unpleasant feeling of her parched throat came back in full force. She hesitated a minute before forcing herself to grab one of the bottles. Carefully she examined the plastic cap, worried that the water inside might be tampered with drugs of whatever it was they used to knock someone unconscious. Pleased, as she found the cap still wrapped in its original plastic cover, she tore off the plastic material and promptly unscrewed the cap. The water was tepid as it had been sitting there probably for hours, but it did the job of cooling down her throat tremendously. She drank half a bottle in record time before she screwed back the cap and put the bottle on the coffee table.

Feeling a bit more alive, she sat back on the couch, pulling her legs up and drew her knees to her chest. She let her head fell against the fabric of the head rest and looked around once again, trying to make sense about where she was and how did she get there. The room was painted in white. No windows, she noted in displeasure, but the air did not feel stale, there must some sort of air conditioning system, she noted. The room must have been used for storage at some point. She sighed and closed her eyes, thinking back to this morning where it all started to go wrong.

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#

By the time lunch time was over, a full blown panic had threatened to break Jae Kyung's calm façade. They were all well into their lunches when Yi Jeong arrived at last, grimacing as he walked inside, saying sorry for being late but there was a sudden meeting at the museum. He kissed Jae Kyung and Jan Di's cheeks before asking where Ga Eul was. He had not been able to contact her after his meeting finished.

'You mean she's not with you?' Jae Kyung hiked her beautiful eyebrows. She swiftly grabbed her mobile and typed in a message to her friend. Serious situation needs some serious action. In this case, the lava cake might already be sold out by the time she arrived. She put back her mobile after she pressed the send button and gave her attention back to Yi Jeong who still stood at the end of the table.

'No, I told her that I was going to be late and asked her to call my other driver to pick her up.' Yi Jeong alarmed. He took his seat in front of Woo Bin and looked around the table. 'She hasn't arrived yet?'

No one replied but the blank looks from everyone made him launch into muted grumble and swear. He picked up his phone and called his driver, spoke in short sentences before informing everyone that no, Ga Eul had not called the driver either.

A few sent text messages and failed calls later, the mood had turned somber. Their food was all but forgotten; no one had any appetite to finish their lunch.

They looked at each other, nor quite sure of what to do. Jae Kyung restlessly tapping her manicured nails on the table, sending everyone else crazy.

'Shall we call the police?' she asked her fiancé almost desperately, but Woo Bin shook his head in doubt.  
'You know we can't report someone as a missing person if it's only hours since we heard from her. What do you think we should do now?' he looked at Jun Pyo and Yi Jeong.  
'Call her boss,' Jan Di threw a suggestion. 'She might know where she is.'  
'That's a good idea. Do you know her number?'  
Deflated, Jan Di shook her head.

'I'll ask my secretary to give her a call.' Woo Bin decided. 'Let's go to my office. I have all the files there. Can you settle the bill?' he looked at Jun Pyo who nodded easily. 'You guys better all come with me. We probably can find something I overlook last time.'

Silently they all followed him out of the restaurant.

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#

They arrived at Woo Bin's office in no time at all. The Song building was an exact opposite of the So museum. Where the museum was an interesting fuse of traditional and modern architecture, the Song building was all smooth edges and sleek lines with minimalist interior to match the modern look. They followed the young mafia prince into his office, waiting in jitter while he unlocked the drawer of his desk and pulled a bundle of folders out.

He paused as he remembered something and called his secretary into the room. In short and precise sentences he asked her to get in touch with Ga Eul's boss and ask, if any, whatever information they have about her supposed whereabouts. 'Tell her it's important; give her all our names if you need to.' He dismissed her before going back to the bundle in his hand.

Carefully he took the top two folders as he looked at Yi jeong's face to ask for permission. With a slight of hand and imperceptible nod from his friend, he opened both folders and turned to face the rest of the group. He started to tell the story from the very beginning in soft but clear voice. Patiently answering any questions coming from Jan Di and Jun Pyo. His fiancé was startlingly quiet in her seat, her teeth anxiously biting edges of her nails.

'So there you go,' he said, looking at each and every ones in the room, 'that's the whole story we have been able to piece together so far.' He paused. 'And that is assuming that what we have here,' he pated the two folders in front of him, 'is the correct answer. Now what I'd like you to see….' He was interrupted by a knock on the door. Seconds later, his secretary came inside with a piece of paper in her hand.

'I'm sorry Sir,' she started, 'this is the contact number given by Ms. Jung. I've tried calling several times but the number was inactive.'

'Shit,' Yi Jeong hissed angrily as Jae Kyung and Jan Di let out a loud groan.

'I also tried calling the gallery that Ms. Chu supposed to go this morning, but apparently she never made it there. I spoke with the owner but he said they don't have an agent or employee named Mr. Jin, and they also never made appointment with Ms. Chu.'

Woo Bin rubbed his temple tiredly. 'That's OK, thank you,' he nodded at his secretary who then let herself out. 'This is bad,' he sighed. 'Can you guys have a look at all these pictures; see if there's anything you think is important.' He took a number of pictures from each folder and laid them out on the table.

There were about twenty pictures in total, counted Jan Di silently; they were all laid out randomly. She glanced at them, trying to see what's captured on those pictures. Seemingly they were pictures of the business man with his mistress, him again with his family, the mistress and her friends, the other girl by herself, her again with her father, still the girl with Yi Jeong's father, her again with her friends. What do they have to do with Ga Eul's predicament, she sighed almost too loudly. She took the nearest picture and studied the faintly smiling girl with her father. Anger started to boil in the pit of her stomach. No one should be able to walk away free after destroying such young life; she thought angrily, for a moment her thought straying from Ga Eul. She put the picture back on the table and reached for another one. Her attempt halted as Jae Kyung let a high pitched shriek from her end of the table.

'What? What is it?' Jun Pyo was the first one to react.

'This picture, Jan Di, this picture!  
Jae Kyung pointing at one picture in her hand.  
'What?'  
'Mr. Bodybuilder here!'  
She quickly leaned over to look at the photograph more closely.

'Oh my God!' she shrieked as it came to her focus. 'She's meeting him today!'

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	20. Chapter 20

It seemed hours, Ga Eul wasn't sure, it's hard to guess since she didn't have her watch with her and her trusted mobile phone was also taken away, before something finally happened. She was staring at the brownish dots on the ceiling, clearly a result of bad plumbing, too bored but wary to do anything else. She had tried banging the door, shouting until her throat hurt, kicking the heavy metal door, trying to jimmy the lock with no result aside from hurt knuckles and sore toes.

She had sipped her water sparingly, afraid that she would soon need to go to the bathroom had she gulped them in one go. What would happen then, she thought darkly, if no one would even let her out to relieve herself. Her frown darkened as the thought entered her head. Please, please, please don't let that happen, she quickly casted a prayer before turned her attention back to the door. Her mind rewound what had happened to her so far.

She was walking from the café to the gallery where she was supposed to meet Jin (is that even his real name?) whom Jae Kyung called Mr. Bodybuilder Villain. She really should start listening more to Jae Kyung's random babble next time, she made a mental note. If there's a next time for her, she thought gloomily. Halfway toward the gallery, a red station wagon slowing its speed to a crawl before it stopped completely beside her. She turned her head to see the driver, smiled when the automatic window rolled open to show Jin on the driving seat.

'Good morning,' he waved at her.

She waved her hand back, returning his greeting.

'Come, get in,' he nodded at her, 'we'll get there faster.'

Jan Di always did say that her lack of suspicion was only second to her overabundance of stubbornness had someone made a graph of her personality. She really should have listened to her friend more than dismissing her right out. A combination of both can be lethal, she mused, as she had a privilege to have it proven in the most unpleasant way. And so, even though Yi Jeong had reminded her over and over again to be extra careful, to never trust anyone other than her closest circle of friends, she still decided to take the offer and opened the door to enter the car.

What happened next, she really couldn't tell. One minute she was busy trying to put on the seat belt, the next she woke up in this Godforsaken room in God knows where. Someone else must have already waited at the back of the car, with some sort of anesthetic like chloroform, ready to strike when her stupid self got into the car. Served her right, really, she sighed. Oh, just what is she going to do, say, when that hateful man decides to appear again, she frowned, her fist slammed the couch for the hundredth time. She rested her head against the couch, eyes staring at the ceiling. Wide open but not really see a thing, wanted to do something but wary at the same time. So busy was she thinking about nothing that when the door suddenly opened she almost jumped up in fright.

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Meanwhile, at the other side of the city, two men were cussing as a truck stopping in front of their car preventing them to run a red light. Yi Jeong impatiently tapping his fingers on the hand rest while Woo Bin trying his hardest not to blast his horn.

'Can we overtake this truck here and be done with it?'

'And let the traffic officer arrest us and prolong the delay?' Woo Bin lifted his eyebrow. 'Nah man, I trust the police have at least sent a squad to his house.'

'Yeah but what if they keep her somewhere else?'

Woo Bin took his eyes off the road and turned his head to see his friend. He gave Yi Jeong a mischievous and yet reassuring grin.

'Which is why I asked my guys to go to his office and warehouse complex,' he said excitedly. 'Even if she's held somewhere else, I'm sure we can find a clue of her whereabouts there.'

'Yeah,' Yi Jeong nodded gloomy, a little unconvinced but he really didn't have a better idea to offer. 'Do you think the girls are OK?' he turned his body around to see if Jun Pyo's car was close by but his view was obstructed by the large truck behind.

Earlier at the restaurant Woo Bin had asked Jan Di and jae Kyung to just go home and wait for them to sort out this incident by themselves. That obviously didn't go well with Jae Kyung's eyes almost fell off from their sockets from glaring too much.

'But it's safer this way, babe,' he pleaded with her but met with stony silence.

After seconds passed he relented but told them to go in Jun Pyo's car, citing it's better for them to have a guy with them all the time, and two cars are obviously better than one.

A phone call to his police buddy reassured them that they would have an official back up on this one.

'You said they won't respond earlier,' Jan Di said after Woo Bin made a call to his police contact.

'Yeah, but that's before you identified a suspect. See, it's a different situation altogether,' Woo Bin explained before he made another call to his right hand guy and explained the situation.

The traffic light had switched back to green. Yi Jeong let out a long deep sigh as the car started to move again. He glanced at the various buildings along the street as his mind wandered to the memory he tried hard to bury so many years before.

'Do you remember the story I told you about my brother who got kidnapped when we were little?' he asked Woo Bin who nodded silently. 'This feels so much worse.' He glanced at his best friend who still kept his calm on the steering wheel. 'How can you be so calm in a situation like this? I feel like I'm about to choke someone already.' he sighed and rubbed his temple.

'Next time I want to experience some excitement in my life, remind me about this and I'll go bungee jumping with eyes blindfolded and hand tied up at the back. I'll leave this kind of excitement with you.' Yi Jeong pressed his head on the plush head rest and stretched out his long arms before back to tapping his long fingers on his knee.

Woo Bin was about to answer when his mobile phone beeped.

'Yes?' he nodded as he listened to his earpiece. 'Right,' he said, 'we'll be there shortly.'

He turned off his mobile and switched his concentration to the road ahead.

'Hang on tight,' he said to his friend, hands ready on the wheel, 'let's see how fast this baby can take us.'

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#

The man stepped inside the room was not at all the same one as who Ga Eul thought it would be. For a start, she didn't think she had ever met him in the first place. He had jet black hair, although nowadays people dyed their hair, from teenagers to grandmas and grandpas, so what would she know about his real color. If she had to guess, though, they would be black with lots of grey underneath that jet black dye. He looked about early fifty-ish, with crinkles surrounding his eyes when he squinted a little to see her without his glasses.

Frozen in her seat, Ga Eul continued looking at him like she was looking at an alien. The man was looking very sharp, with sharp suit and trendy specs. He was looking back at her with a smirk at the side of his mouth.

'So you are Ms. Chu Ga Eul,' he said, she could almost hear a sneer in his voice.

For all the banging and shouting she did earlier, Ga Eul voice seemed to freeze in her throat. As much as she liked to start questioning this man, something in his blatant disdain of her just made her flinch. What had she done to him? Or rather, if Yi Jeong's theory was correct, what had Yi jeong done to him? She swallowed the sudden bile in her throat before she managed a squeak.

'Who are you?'  
'Me?' he laughed at her. 'I'm no one important.'  
She watched him as his laughed turned to quiet chuckle.  
'Why…. Why did you…' she paused. 'Why am I here?'  
The man stopped his chuckles and smiled almost fondly at her.  
'Ah, Miss Chu,' he said, 'that's a million dollar question isn't it?'  
'Are you expecting a million dollar ransom?' she frowned. 'I don't have any money. My family don't have that kind of money'  
'No, I guess you don't,' he nodded almost maddeningly, agreeing with her.  
'Are you going to have Yi Jeong pay a million dollar?' she furrowed her brows.  
'Tsk. I don't need his money,' he almost snorted at her.

'But why?' her voice trailed as another man entered the room. She glared as the new comer came into view. It was her kidnapper, Jin, the fake art dealer she stupidly followed this morning. With blank expression he looked at her without much interest. It's almost as if she was his past assignment and now he's waiting for a new one and had no use of her anymore. Which she probably was.

'Tell me Miss Chu,' the older man started speaking again, 'do you have any idea how hard it is to see someone you love just….fade away in front of you?'  
'I'm sorry?'  
'To see her slowly crumbling, leaving no trace of what she used to be?'  
Ga Eul felt her mouth hang open, not understanding.

'Don't you want to have the person who made her like that feels the same way as I do?'

'I…I don't understand..' she managed to speak albeit almost whisper like.  
'No, I don't suppose you do,' he smirked again at her.  
'Is it… Was it Yi Jeong….?' Her question left hanging in the air. She didn't want to say it. Yi Jeong? Her Yi Jeong? What had he done to this man?

But the man smiled at her as he shook his head.

'No, not your precious Yi Jeong, Miss Chu,' he said. 'But when I finish with…whatever this is, he will be crushed and fade away slowly, just like my daughter. And do you know what, I bet his father will feel the same as I do when that happened. That's what revenge is all about, don't you agree, Miss Chu?'

She shivered as he looked at her coldly before abruptly turned his body around and started to walk out of the room.

'Wait!' she almost jumped from her seat. 'What are you going to do to me?'  
He stopped in his track, 'Oh, you don't want to know,' he shrugged before continuing his steps.  
Ga Eul almost ran to reach him before she was rudely interrupted by Jin who put his body between them and shoved her back to the couch.  
'Please!' she managed to shout before the metal door slammed back into place and the room once again empty but for her.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, she almost cried as she banged her fist over and over against the vomit green velour of the couch. This was the worst than whatever she thought she was in before. Just….the worst. She burst into tears when her knuckles accidently banged a hard frame of the couch and she was left alone holding her sore hand, wishing she was thousands of miles away from here.

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#

A man opened the door with what looked like a sandwich and another bottle of water not long after her previous visitor made their call. Ga Eul watched him put the tray on the coffee table without sparing a glance at her.

'Who is he?' she asked as the man started to go back to the door. 'Who came here earlier?'

She didn't get any answer though, instead the man only shrugged at her and walked out of the door. In the silent room, the sound of the door being locked from outside could be heard clearly. It was depressing.

She eyed the tray of food in distrust. If anything, she wouldn't want to touch anything which could have poisoned her, and judging from what had been said earlier, her kidnapper really couldn't care less if she had ended dying in their care. No, she wouldn't touch any of the food they offer her. Even with her stomach rumbling she tried to stay away from the sandwich.

Damn it, she scratched her head. How many days was it that human can live without food? Was it seven days? Three days? She really should have paid more attention to trivia questions. You never know when you might need it.

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#

Almost another hour passed, and Ga Eul was pretty certain about this because she had been counting tiles, counting sheep, counting her breathing from one to sixty and repeat, before she banged her hand on the door again.

'Please,' she pleaded to the solid metal door, hoping that there must be someone holding a position outside her prison room. 'I need to go to the bathroom.' She waited for the sound of key clicking or door knob turning in desperation until she was positive someone did turning the key outside. A few seconds later the door opened without much fanfare and someone holding the door knob made a gesture with his chin telling her to go outside and follow him.

She stepped out to a large room, clean but quite empty except for a set of table and chairs and a fridge in the corner. The room had big glass windows leading to a larger room which served like a communal lobby and alleyway to several rooms like the one she's in. It looked like a basement of some sort. She's pretty sure the whole level served as a storage basement as her eyes made assessment of various stacks of boxes in each room.

Silently she followed her captor passed the lobby and all the way to the corner. There, almost hidden were two small bathrooms. He stopped and made a sign for her to go inside, then without sound he leaned against the wall, arms folded on the chest showing off the muscles beneath his shirt. It's not like she's thinking about running away from him, she thought darkly. Sulking, she went inside the cubicle and closed the door loudly.

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#

But taking care of business while having someone guarding you just outside the door was really uncomfortable. Ga Eul would vouch for that. She took her time even as the man outside started to tell her to do it quickly. It's pretty humiliating, to be quite honest. She was ready to tell him to mind his own business when a loud sound came from outside and her captor bang on the door telling her to wrap it up quickly or he would go inside and finish it for her. (How? She thought quite amused but finish it all the same).

She was washing her hand when a loud bang seemed to come directly from in front of the cubicle. Trying not to make a sound at all she turned off the tap and held her breath. She really didn't fancy being caught up in some gang action. Because that should be it, right? Gang war or something. With any luck they would all forget about her and leave her alone.

It felt like a long time, she rigidly stood with back against the wall, afraid to make a move. When at last a voice half shouting her name, she almost jumped in fright. Heart racing, she told herself to listen carefully. Another voice called her name, familiar voice. She shakily opened the bathroom door and almost cried in relief as she saw Woo Bin once she peered from behind the wall.

'Woo Bin Sunbae!' she cried and ran to hug him. She almost made it too if someone didn't grab her hand at the last minute. Preparing for the worst, she put all her strength to snatch her hand back, feet ready to kick the assailant's weakest spot.

'Shhh, Ga Eul,' she felt the attacker (or hand grabber, rather) enveloped her into a hug from behind. Familiar scent made her stop wriggling so hard. 'I got you,' his deep voice made her stop wriggling altogether.

Quickly she turned her body around, lips trembling as she saw Yi Jeong, his face tight with worry and his mouth almost disappeared in a thin line. But he managed a small smile when her fist slowly unfurled, her rigid stance relaxed. Second later she threw herself fully into his arm, his hands on her back, pulling her close almost to a breaking point.

'I knew I have to say don't talk to strangers every morning before you go,' he whispered into her hair.  
'Yeah,' she almost sobbed into his chest, 'it's totally your fault.'  
He smiled and buried his face deeper in her hair.  
'I'll make sure to spell it for you next time.'  
Ga Eul rested her head and closed her eyes, feeling the soft wool of his suit on her cheek.

'I kinda miss you.'  
She felt him smile amidst the kisses on her hair.  
'Kind of?' he murmured.  
'A little bit.'  
'Really?'  
She felt his arms tightened around her, she didn't know that it was even possible without breaking her spine.  
Breathing deeply, she inhaled his familiar cologne, 'not, not really,' she whispered. 'Not really.'

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 **A/N:** sorry for the delay guys. RL is a bit hectic at the moment, what with the moving house and all that entails.

Hopefully the next one will be finished soon though. fingers crossed.


	21. Chapter 21

You look beautiful  
 **Thank you  
** The color suits you  
 **Stop messing around  
** Do you think I'm lying? Perish the thought!  
 **No, I'm saying stop sending me text messages  
** But this is boring  
 **OMFG  
** When is the bride going to come out?  
 **In a few minutes! Now put away your phone or Woo Bin Sunbae will throw you out from the church.  
** I don't care. He thinks it's funny to put you on the bride' side. On the other side of the fucking church!  
 **Are you on the dark side if I'm on the bride side?  
** Haw haw. Very punny. I'll post it on 9gag.  
 **I'll send a text to Ji Hoo Sunbae to confiscate your phone  
** He's sleep walking already.  
 **I'll send a text to Jun Pyo Sunbae to wake him up  
** You look beautiful  
 **Stop it!  
** The color suits you  
 **GHFGHF^^ &%^&!**

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#

Ga Eul glared at Yi Jeong who sat way across the church hall. He was smirking at her as she raised her phone in front of her and pointedly turned it off before slid it into her small purse.

'What are you doing?' next to her Jan Di whispered in her ear.

'Nothing,' she gave her friend an innocent smile and resumed to waiting for the bride to arrive.

A month had passed since the incident and a lot had happened since then. Today happened to be the big day for Jae Kyung and Woo Bin and she couldn't be happier for them. But let's trace back to the day after her rescue.

She slept fitfully that night, tossing and turning, waking up in the middle of the night to find her tucked in and safe in the guest room. Something was not quite right; she could feel it nagging at the very edge of her brain. It was the remarks that man had said to her while in captivity, the obvious disdain he seemed to harbor at Yi jeong's family. She had a lot of questions waiting to be answered but it was already too late when they at last left the police station and everyone was simply drained from the long day and the stress that came with it.

Of course, she knew about Mr. Choi now, a rather shady business man dealing with domestic and international shipping. According to the police they had had him in the custody for questioning already. From what she could gather, Woo Bin had sent his troop of men to the office and warehouse area when the police squad decided to make a visit to 's house. The troop had quickly secured information that Mr. Choi had in fact not been at home and was seen in the vicinity of his office, and relayed that information to the police who then directed their squad to the warehouse and made a kind of joint operation with Woo Bin's men with them as the lead. No doubt, Woo Bin had wished to stay in the background.

According to the head detective who led the action, it was a very quick and successful operation with minimal casualty. If Ga Eul wanted to assert her opinion that it was not quick enough for her, thank you very much, then she had wisely kept it to herself.

The next day she woke up to the rustle of paper next to her bed.

'What are you doing?' she asked with eyes still bleary from sleep to Yi Jeong who seemed to be engrossed in reading the newspaper. He looked ridiculous in white t-shirt and bottom pajama, sitting on the luxury Italian chair in her bedroom, legs on the ottoman in front of him.  
'Hello, how do you feel?' he raised his face from the paper in front of him and smiled at her.  
'Better,' she buried her face on the pillow and tried to shake herself awake. 'What time is it?'  
'Still early,' Yi Jeong replied in a cheerful voice which infuriated her for some reason.  
'Why are you up already if it's still early?' she mumbled and frowned, her knuckles wiped the trace of sleep from her eyes.  
'Oh, did I wake you up? Sorry.'

She rolled her eyes but stretched her arms out and slowly peeled herself off the mattress.

'What are you reading anyway?' she grabbed a plain blue scrunchie from the bed side table and gathered her hair to form a loose ponytail.  
'The paper.'  
'I know that. What article?'  
'Oh, nothing, really.'  
'Nothing?'  
'I'm trying to see if your kidnapping made it to the paper but it's not there. It's all good.' She frowned at that. Not that she wanted to be famous or anything, but it's just strange that everything seemed to be in a locked down information wise.  
Tea?'

Yi jeong moved his legs from the ottoman and pour a cup of tea from the beautiful porcelain teapot into a cup. He walked a few steps and sat himself down on the side of the bed, offering the steaming cup of tea to her.

'Thank you,' she drank the hot liquid with legs still covered below the thick blanket, feeling a bit better with every sip.  
'So,' Ga Eul said after her cup was finally emptied, 'explain from the beginning, please.'  
'You were there at the police station as well,' Yi Jeong answered calmly, 'You heard everything already.'

She narrowed her eyes and put her empty cup on the bed side table. 'Don't do that to me please,' her voice was calm but there's ire beneath the surface. 'I know the story you told the police didn't cover everything. So he's someone who holds the grudge to your family. But what kind of grudge? And why did he say something about someone he loves fades away in front of him?'

'It's a long story.'  
'We have a lot of time.'  
'I don't think….'  
She cut him off before he talked any further. 'Is it because I work for the paper that you won't tell me the whole story?' her expression showed disappointment, 'surely you understand that I know what to say and what to keep from the press. Don't you trust me?'  
'Maybe at first….' He shrugged. 'But it's more than that.' He turned his stare away from her, his beautiful chocolate eyes troubled.

She watched him looking outside the window. The guest room she's sleeping at was decked with a big window overlooking the back garden. Most of the time she didn't bother to close the curtain before she went to sleep. She watched Yi jeong's expression darken before the cloud finally dispersed. He smiled his little smile as he turned his head and faced her and started to tell his story.

'You see,' he looked at her carefully after completing the story, 'it's a complete nightmare.'  
'You think I would go to my editor and ask her to print this? Is that what you're afraid of?'  
'What?' he looked offended. 'No, it's not that. It's just that….you see how fucked up my family really is. And I…. I mean, I am not a clean sheet to begin with, you know. I sometimes wonder if lives wrecked because of what happened in the past…..' Yi Jeong rubbed his temple tiredly, missing his cheerful expression earlier. 'I wonder what you would have thought of me…..'

She felt her throat dry despite the cup of tea, her hand instantly went to find his. There were times in the past where Ga Eul thought she saw Yi Jeong in his rawest moment. But this moment, she took a deep breath, this moment was the first time she thought she finally understood him.

'Yi Jeong…'  
He shook his head. 'You don't have to say anything.' His wore his small smile like a mask. And somehow it broke her heart even more.  
'But I want to,' she lifted his hand up and kissed them. 'I love you,' she said simply. 'Nothing has changed.'

She wanted to say more, she really did. But the next second Yi Jeong had already had her lips seized. And she really, really didn't like to interrupt him when he's behaving like a man on a mission. Instead, she smiled against his lips and softly cracked her mouth open. He tasted a bit like cappuccino. And his eyes shone when they surfaced for breath. Just the way she liked it.

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#

The first thing on her list was to move back to her apartment now that the coast was safe. She's proud of her independence and she liked to keep it that way.

Yi Jeong was not a fan of her idea but she stood her ground firmly.

'The house is big enough for the two of us,' he said, his long body leaned against the door frame as she tidied up her guest room from her belongings, separating trash and treasure.  
'It's big enough for five families living together,' she answered calmly but not stopping for a pause.  
'So maybe you can just stay.'

She laughed but shook her head.

'Why?' Yi Jeong crossed his arms against his chest. 'We've been together for more than a month already. It's working fine.'  
She paused and looked at him gently.  
'I think we're moving a bit too fast, Yi Jeong Sunbae. In due time.'  
'In due time.'  
'Yes.'

Yi Jeong cracked a smile at that. 'So there will be a _time_.'  
'Maybe.'

She grinned as Yi Jeong gave her a pointed stare. 'Well you might decide that a lousy copy editor is just not going to cut it for such refined society.' Her smile got wider as his frown grew deeper. 'Anyway, your cat will be happy to see me go at last. She scratched me yesterday when I tried to lift her up.' She lifted her wrist and showed a fuzzy red line on her inside arm. 'I think she's a bit jealous.'

Yi jeong snorted and shook his head.

The move happened the very next day. He learned to appreciate it in the end, especially with all those things they got to do in the kitchen which they couldn't at his house, what with his army of cooks and cleaners and butler and just about any other type of household helps you can think of.

And I'm not talking about cooking.

The second thing on her list was talking to her boss. The information lockdown was not merely her imagination, as it turned out. She wasn't sure whether to feel happy or sad about this. And so she went to see Jae Kyung to talk about it, trying to understand the world in which she still felt like a blind person walking around a new house.

'I mean, I obviously know there must be some sort of power they hold over press, but….' She trailed, unsure about how to proceed.

'You think we're manipulating the system?' Jae Kyung calmly stated, she was eating a heaping plate of petite profiteroles with cream inside and dipped into warm chocolate sauce. Such indulgence she could never on daily basis, just because they will go straight to her hips.  
'That's one way to see it….' absent mindedly she reached for her coffee and sipped it slowly.  
Jae Kyung took a moment to think and piece her words carefully.

'I think of it as a privilege,' she said. 'The media needs us as much as we need them, I'm afraid. It's all about take and give. But you will still find the most shocking or scandalous pieces out there. Not everything is allowed to be buried. But some cases, you know, they work out better when they can be settled out outside of prying eyes.'  
'Even if the consequences were damaging to the public?'  
'Oh they won't let that kind of cases just go away, believe me. But personal matters, here and there… ' she trailed a little. 'You have to make your own judgment Ga Eul, but believe me, we are not above the law.'  
'Yeah…' she left it at that.

The next day she sent a big flower arrangement to the poor young girl whose life had been wrecked by Yi Jeong's father thoughtless act. Anonymously, of course. The public might never know her existence, but Ga Eul did and that mattered to her.

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#

The next thing she addressed was her boss' warning about Yi Jeong being from a traditional family.

'I like my work,' she said to Yi Jeong when he dropped by her house one night after work.  
'I know that.' He shrugged his beautifully cut suit carelessly, his tie the second piece of garments landed on her couch.  
'Do you have a problem with it?'  
'What?' a frown appeared on his handsome face. 'Why should I have problem with it?'  
'Maybe you won't like it in the long run?'

She sipped her tea, looking at him from the top of her cup.

'Is this one of those questions that if I answer them wrong then I won't get to stay the night for the next two weeks?'  
Her lips curved up a little.  
'More like a month.'  
'That's not good.' He shifted position until they sat next to each other on the couch; his hand took the cup in her hand and placed it on the saucer.

'Why do you think I will have problems with your job at the magazine?' Yi Jeong pulled Ga Eul onto his laps and started tracing her palm until goose bumps appeared on her bare arms.  
'Because… because… stop distracting me.' She swatted his roaming hands even though it was for no use at all seeing it only encouraged Yi Jeong to pull her body flush onto his. He kissed her until her mind went blank and toes curled before she was released from his tight embrace.  
'You were saying?' he smirked when she was left speechless for long seconds.

Ga Eul rolled her eyes but stayed at his laps.

'Will you ask me to give up my job if we were to continue this relationship?' she asked in all seriousness.  
'What makes you think that?' he frowned, 'who makes you think that?'  
'Yes or no?'  
'No.'  
Slowly her lips curved way up. 'Good.'

'But why do you think I'd ask such a thing?' Yi Jeong frowned, his hand momentary stopped his teasing on her arms.  
Briefly Ga Eul debated herself as to the best way to bring up the conversation with her boss.  
'Well, this has something to do with your very traditional and conservative family…,' she started, but Yi Jeong raised his hand to interrupt before she even finished her sentence.

'I think we have established a long time ago that I am not my father, or grandfather. I am my own self, Ga Eul.'

'I know,' she sighed, 'it's just….' She stopped herself before going any further and captured his lips with hers, smiling against the soft flesh. 'Let me show you how sorry I am….'

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The next big event was, of course, Jae Kyung and Woo Bin's wedding. They managed to fill the hen party weekend in Bali with not much incident. Only, the planned weekend stretched out to almost a week and it will always be remembered fondly as the week with an embarrassing number of hangover mornings. Feeling left out, the boys decided to follow them and rent the next-door hotel penthouse suite and made it not so much a hen party but a group holidays like the one they did at the New Caledonia so many years ago. However, the girls refused to switch rooms and stayed in the all female group instead, meeting the boys only for lunches, dinners, and some outings.

Jae Kyung, being her annoying self for the holiday, never let Ga Eul forget that she supposed to deliver a speech at the wedding party, even as they lay on the wooden sunbed beside the infinity pool of their hotel.

'Shut up, Jae Kyung,' she fixed the large long scarf used as a blanket and pulled her wide hat further covering her face, intent on sleeping off the hangover from the night before. She managed to have a five minutes silence before an incessant tug on her big toe rudely drew her from peaceful almost-slumber.

'Stop it,' she mumbled half heartedly, knowing that nothing could stop Jae Kyung from her evil way when she had set her heart on something.  
'I said stop, jeez, it's 98 percent finished, OK?' she kicked her feet out of Jae Kyung's grasp. But the tugging did not stop, of course.  
'I said stoo….oww!'

A short second later she was lifted from the comfortable lounger; her arms flailing frantically in attempts to find solid ground. She blinked as the hat fell from her face and revealed a grinning Yi Jeong getting ready to jump.

She managed to shriek albeit a little too late. Yi Jeong already flung himself into the water, taking her with him in his arm. She spluttered as water went into her nose. Stupid boyfriend, her glare was pointed at him, if only look could kill, but Yi Jeong only laughed at her hard set mouth. She almost wept for her now ruined silk scarf.

'You look good!' Jae Kyung giggled from her lounger. The traitor, she narrowed her eyes at her friend. 'Have fun you two, I'm going to go for a walk,' she waved at them before Ga Eul had a chance to splash some water on her face.

'What are you doing,' Ga Eul turned to see Yi Jeong beside her, hands and feet happily paddling in the water.  
'Enjoying the holiday,' he grinned at her. His mouth curved upward, his dimples showing.  
'On my expense,' she pouted at him. 'My friend gave me this scarf and now it is ruined.'  
Yi Jeong gave her his best sad puppy eyes until she rolled her eyes desperately and sighed in defeat. Her effort in making him feel guilty apparently didn't work.

Confident that Ga Eul was not going to deliver a kick or punch to his precious abs, Yi Jeong came closer and pulled her into a hug.  
'We need to go on another trip, just the two of us,' he said.  
Ga Eul rolled her eyes, 'Seriously, darling Sunbae. We're still on holidays and here you are talking about another one already.'  
'Yeah but this is not a real holiday.'  
'Is it not?'

'No. Last night I woke up on the couch with Jun Pyo's foot on my face, an empty bottle between us, and Woo Bin snoring loudly in his room. I'm sorry but I call it death by agony instead of enjoyable holiday.' He scrunched his nose in mock distaste.  
'Serve you right for following us here,' she brighten up at his misfortune.  
'At least you could have left the others here and we can get a room together.'

She snorted at him.

'Anyway, I have used up all my leaves for this wedding,' she grabbed the pool side and anchored her feet on the foot rest on the wall. 'Some people have to work for a living, you know.'  
Yi Jeong rolled his eyes at her too often jibe at his wealth.  
'Obviously it doesn't have to be tomorrow.'  
'Okay, but this time we'll do it my way,' she smiled slyly at him.  
'What way?'  
'Well, we had holidays before, your kind of holidays,' she answered breezily. 'And it's great! But this time it's my turn to plan the trip and you will have to go along with it.'

Yi Jeong narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her smirk. 'It's not going to be a package tour from one of those dramas you like to watch, is it? I hate those kind of tour.'

She gave him her sweetest smile, 'You'll just have to wait and see,' she said. 'But for now, let's survive this wedding first, shall we?'

#

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Jae Kyung and Woo Bin's wedding day could not be more perfect in her opinion. Despite it being held in October and the weather had decidedly started to become chilly lately, the sun shone warmly and bright autumn leaves gave the quiet road leading to the church much needed color.

Ji Hoo arrived not a day too late, having matched his flight with their return from Bali. They went for group dinners almost every chance they got, thirsty for news and conversation even though Ji Hoo was still the same, quiet and reserved. He quirked his eyebrows watching Yi Jeong resting his hand possessively on the curve of Ga Eul's waist. Yi Jeong's silent answer to that was to hold Ga Eul even closer and kissed her temple in front of his friend.

'About bloody time,' was Ji Hoo's only comment before he moaned about the conspiracy against him. How come there were only three girls in the group, they must secretly want him out. He, however, flatly refused Woo Bin and Yi Jeong's offer to meet some people they know, saying he's perfectly content to become Korea's most eligible bachelor now that all his friends were tied up in relationships.

Boys, mouthed Jae Kyung, rolling her eyes.

The seating area at the church was separated into the groom and bride's guests, much to Yi Jeong's dismay. He sent a glare at Woo Bin who just shrugged his shoulders and told him to behave, he had to sit at the best man place anyway. Hence his petty revenge in the form of sullen texting.  
Ga Eul smirked at his last text when the music started and the church door opened for the bride.

Jae Kyung was a vision in white. Her dress top fit gorgeously like a second skin, while the bottom part made of material so soft it made impression like the wind was weaving in and out as she walked down the aisle with her hand secured in her father's soft grip. She looked radiant with her brilliant smile placed firmly on her face. For his part, Woo Bin looked like someone who was just honestly happy to be there, waiting for his bride to come to him. No one could have accused them that this was a business deal or an arranged marriage like so many couples seemed to have in their society.

Afterwards they were ushered to the reception place, a large garden decked in white with splashes of autumn colors.  
Ga Eul smiled when she had to read her piece.

 _Someone once told_ _me_ , she said, _that there is no such thing as soul mate_.  
 _I told him that he was mistaken, although through the years I came to a realization that probably he was right after all. That soul mate was, really, only a school girl fantasy. I was heartbroken because it felt like an important piece was missing from my life puzzle.  
But looking at the beautiful bride here and her groom_, she smiled at Jae Kyung, _I just want to say that without a doubt, I know, soul mates really do exist._

 _#_

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'I don't remember being such an ass all those years ago,'  
Ga Eul smirked as Yi Jeong approached her with two champagne flutes filled almost to the brim. She was standing at the back of the wedding tent, beautifully decorated with drapes, ribbons and flowers.  
'Human brains are amazing,' she deadpanned as her hand happily accepted the drink, 'they can filter and delete our unwanted memories. Keep the shiny ones intact.'

Yi jeong narrowed his eyes in mock displeasure before taking a sip of his champagne.

At the front, a rather large assembly of young women had gathered, ready for the fight of their life. That is to say, the bridal bouquet was ready to be thrown out.  
'Go,' Yi Jeong urged her.  
'I'm not going to get trampled by them.'  
'Jae Kyung will be disappointed.'  
'She knows I don't want to get married….. err… soonish,' she added when Yi Jeong sharply turned his head at her.

'Well I'd be disappointed if you don't go there.'  
'What?'  
'Go… come on….'  
Ga Eul eyed him suspiciously.  
'Are you planning to do something?'  
'What? No?'  
'Really? You're not going to do the thing that I think you're thinking of doing...'  
'I don't know what you're talking about.'  
'Because I would say no if you do…'  
'No? Really?'  
'Really. Not now at the least. Not here.'  
'How about later?'

She smiled at him.

'Maybe later. After _the_ holiday.'  
'After the holiday.'  
'Yes.'  
Yi Jeong rolled his eyes and let out a long suffering sigh.  
'OK. But please go there. I want to take a picture of you tumbling down to save the flower.'

Ga Eul laughed and put her champagne flute on the nearby table.  
'You are horrible,' she kissed him on the cheek before walking away.  
'I know. You love me, though.'  
She shook her head but her laugh stayed.

He loved that girl.

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A/N : so sorry to leave this story hanging for so long.

next up will be the epilogue. hopefully in two weeks time, since I'll be going away for a couple of weeks.

until then...


	22. Epilogue

EPILOGUE

 **Aaaaaaahhhh congrats BBFITW!**  
What's that.  
 **Bestest best friend in the world, obviously. Duh.**  
HA! But thank you Ga Eul darling.  
 **Has the morning sickness plaguing you yet?**  
I threw up on Jun Pyo's shoes this morning if that kind of thing interests you.  
 **Perfect. How is he?**  
Sickeningly sweet, TBH. He's just cooing and rubs my back.  
I don't even know him anymore.  
 **Awwwwww.. let's pray the baby won't have any of that nonsense of a hair.**  
Pssshhh I'll chase it with a ten feet pole.  
 **Considering you didn't chase his with half a foot stick….**  
Shut up. Anyway, Curly's birthday is next month…  
 **No can do, sister, I'll be on holiday.**  
Yi Jeong as well?  
 **Of course. I'm taking him on a backpacking holiday.**  
WHAT?  
 **Yeah**.  
LOLOLOL!

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Hubby said you'll be off for a month?  
 **Uhuh**.  
JEALOUS!  
 **You just come back from a three-months-long honeymoon….**  
Yea but..  
 **No buts. Your apartment is in shambles I believe, last time I dropped by there's a new stray cat parked in your garage. See if it's still there and give him some snacks. I might have fed him the last couple of time, haha.**  
 **Plus you wouldn't wanna tag along with this one.**  
WHY NOT

 **You can't even handle economy class. Let alone take a public bus.**  
Yi Jeong is even worse!  
 **PERFECT**.  
You evil witch.

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Why are you sending me all these cheap holiday links?  
 **I am giving you ideas**

For?  
 **Holiday**

This travel on a shoestring?  
 **My ideal kind of holidays, to be honest.**  
WTF.  
Do I really need to travel by bus?  
Stay in hostels?  
Bring earplugs?  
Padlocks for suitcases?  
Are we going to a construction site?  
 **You are such a snob**

I'm not.  
Send me different links.  
 **AAARRGH! Just give me your passport!**

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 **The woman is vicious**

Tell me about it Bro.  
 **First she made me trade my first class ticket to the herd class.**

And what did she say when you told her it's a herd class?

 **Fucking seething like I just insulted her religion**

HA!

 **Then it was bus trips and cheap hotels. She's a fucking travel nazi. Never stays in the same city for more than 2 days. I'm telling you it's worse than my military days.**  
I mean, I would say I'd marry her just to enjoy your whining more..but wifey is sitting next to me.  
 **Shut up. And when I said cheap hotels, did I mention that we had to share bathroom with others? I mean, what does one do for a relaxing holiday? Obviously not sharing bathroom with other people that's what!**  
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

 **I'm telling you, I'll have my revenge by the end of this holiday….**  
Can't wait Bro….

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 **Jae Kyung said you've been sending text to Woo Bin sunbae, saying what a horrible holiday you're having right now.**  
PPPPfffttttt she knows nothing.  
 **Are you telling me she's lying?**  
IDK what she's on about.  
 **Liar** ….

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Yi Jeong was being a brat. Ga Eul was huffing at his regression. She knew for sure that he'd been enjoying the holiday despite the numerous mock whining he did on the first few days. They were city hopping, and it was fun. He laughed despite the wrong bus they took a few days ago. And Ga Eul would swear that he thoroughly loving all the meals they had had from the various street stalls they frequented from one city to another. But not today. Today was a particularly difficult day. And it was at the end of the holiday, too, and at the best location out of all the cities they travelled to. A quiet beach town with miles of beautiful sea view to feast your eyes upon.

It began with him complaining about the nonexistent bed bug he claimed to have bitten him during the night. It was then continued to him moaning about the quality of the hotel breakfast buffet, which admittedly, was not great. She then managed to drag him walking along the pristine white sandy beach, where he said he could use a little nap and promptly sat himself down on the sand. Which was, OK, fine. She could live with that.

But then! Then! He decided that he did not want to do any excursion after all and told her he's going to go to that small bar by the beach, saying that he would need a stiff drink to get through the day. That made her angry and retaliate that he could go by himself and she'd go on her own, which was working fine until she realized that she left her wallet and hotel key in the room. Annoyed at herself, she walked along the beach for a long time, sending messages to her friends, telling them how awful Yi Jeong was at the moment. After a while though, she grudgingly gave Yi Jeong a call, asking where he was. She did not particularly want to see him but she needed her wallet. 'I told you I'd be at the bar,' he told her curtly. She almost threw her phone into the passing wave.

Almost unbearable sulky, she walked back to find the small building nestled by the beach, almost a hut really, which was surprising in itself. She would have thought Yi Jeong purposely gone to the swankiest hotel bar he could find just to annoy her more. The door was still closed when she arrived. Not a common occurrence, since it was practically open 24/7 and there seemed to be always people hanging around the bar.

'Hello,' a perky girl minding the cashier counter turned her face from the cash register and smiled at her brightly, 'come on in.' Ga Eul lifted her eyebrow slightly, she was by no means a regular, and yet the girl seemed to expect her showing up somehow. She looked around to find Yi Jeong but he was nowhere in sight.  
'Oh, he's at the room next door. Just follow the arrows on the floor and you'll most certainly find him.' The perky girl grinned at her.

That…was odd.  
Ga Eul frowned and looked down on the floor. What do you know; a small arrow was indeed drawn on the floor not too far from where she stood awkwardly by the door. A quick glance around confirmed the information the girl gave her, that a series of arrows seemed to lead her inside, through the aisle and if she's not mistaken, quite a large hall at the back with a raised stage, complete with a setup for a live band. She came with Yi Jeong a couple of days before and they had good fun listening to a latin band playing while they had beer and shared a gigantic plate of nachos.

Curiosity won, however, and she nodded and said her thanks to the girl before dragging her sandals and continued her steps inside. The dim light was exactly how she remembered the hallway, but not the room next door. Gone were the tired dining hall and the small stage. In its place was a nice clean room, stripped from the numbers of tables but one with a couple of seats. The room, however, was by any means bare. Instead, lilies and roses were everywhere. Well, not quite everywhere, but they were laid out tastefully around the room. The big windows on the side showed off the million dollar view of miles and miles of the pristine white beach.

Her jaw fell, only to be shut again as a hand tap her shoulder from behind. In her surprised state, she almost did not register Yi Jeong stood quietly by the door, or almost hidden behind the door. Maybe that's how he wanted it to be. He grinned as she jumped in fright.

'Surprised?' his looked excited.  
Ga Eul narrowed her eyes, 'Is this the explanation of your tantrum this morning?'  
'What? That's not a tantrum. It's a diversion tactic.'  
'I thought about throwing your stuff from the room already.'  
'Ah, but you didn't.' Yi Jeong chuckled as Ga Eul gave him a dark look. She, however, did not protest when Yi Jeong steered her to sit at the table. 'Care to explain then?' she was still annoyed at him, her mouth pursed in a straight line.  
'Well, seeing as this is the last day of our trip, I thought about giving it a special treatment."  
'Really. On my expense, nonetheless.'  
'But of course. Just imagining your rage texting to Jae Kyung gives me life already.' Yi Jeong gave her his most innocent smile, eliciting eyeroll for his trouble.  
' I don't know why I agreed on this dating thing.'

Ga Eul looked around at the empty hall.  
'Did you book the whole venue?'  
'Ummm… yes? Is that a bad thing?'  
She couldn't help but chuckle at that. So much for the back packing holiday, she thought about the buses, and the trains, and the small restaurants and cafes they had visited during the trip, and she smiled genuinely for the first time that day.  
'You are really something, you know.' She shook her head as the waiter brought a couple wine glasses and an unopened bottle of white to the table.

'Just what I need,' she murmured as Yi Jeong poured her the drink, having thanked and waved off the waiter.  
'I hope you didn't ask the band to play as we sit here.'  
'What? Of course not.'

'Oh, good. Because the only cheesier thing will be….' She glanced at his sheepish face. 'Oh no! you were going to do it don't you? Saxophone? Really?'  
'Hey! You loved it then, if I remember correctly.'  
'Yeah, like, when I was naïve and stupid. You don't think I have grown up in the past ten years or so?' She grinned at his exaggerated pout.

'I didn't know you've become this difficult to please,' he sighed mournfully. 'So tell me, what is your don't and do when thinking about a perfect proposal.'  
'Why?'  
'Obviously, to make a list on what not to do. Duh.'  
'Don't make it a spectacle. Like proposing in the middle of a football stadium. I mean, what's up with that?'  
'OK….'  
'Or on bended knees…'  
'Fine…'  
'Or take me to an ice rink and, you know, stage a firework or something.'  
'Basically, you want a boring proposal.'  
'What's wrong with being subtle and boring?'

'Like this?'

Yi Jeong opened his palm to reveal a beautiful diamond ring.

'Yeah, like…' she stopped and snapped her head up so fast she thought she was giving herself a headache. 'Is this….? Are you…?'  
'Might as well….'  
'You…..'  
'Well….. Is it a no or a yes? I'm still a bit crushed with your saxophone refusal.'

Ga Eul looked at him for a long time, before dissolving into peals of laughter. 'God, you are crazy. YES! Of course it's a yes.' She stood up from her seat and fell into his waiting arms. Yi Jeong's hands were warm on her back, as she buried her face on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. 'Ten thousand yes.'

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 **I said YES**

Congratulations! So happy for you!

XOXO

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 **She said YES!**

Why.

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